Short takes on items of note.
• CaesarStone Quartz Surfaces of Van Nuys, Calif., expanded its eco-friendly partnerships in late September by becoming a member of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). In July, the Sdot-Yam, Israel-based quartz-surface manufacturer also received certification for indoor air quality and children/schools use from the GREENGUARD Environmental Institute.
• ETemplate Systems, developer of the 3D templating and measuring system ETemplate Photo, announced the signing early last month of a five-year purchase agreement with ErgoMeasure Pty. Ltd. of Ashfield, Australia, with a value...
• US Granite Robotics announces a new Website, offering detailed explanations of all of the company’s systems and software. The site also includes downloadable specifications for each product from the Barrington, Ill.-based company, along...
• Universal Marble and Granite (UMG) opened a new 18,000 ft² facility this year in La Vista, Neb., after a year of planning and development. The Napierville, Ill.-based company plans to stock its UMG-Omaha operation with more than 1,200 marble and granite slab by year’s end.
• Grazzini Brothers & Co. of Eagan, Minn., is the first company to earn the Accredited Natural Stone Commercial B Contractor designation under the Marble Institute of America's accreditation program. Commercial B (light commercial) companies are firms that handle commercial stone installations such as hotel lobbies, bank lobbies, and low-rise interior/exterior cladding. Grazzini Brothers and its executive vice president, Guido Gliori, completed the first two phases earlier in 2007, and passed inspections of its facility and a completed commercial installation in Minneapolis in December.
The New York Public Library will restore the façade of its Fifth Avenue building, according to the New York Sun. Restoration work will begin this spring, with a targeted completion in three years to...
• The William J. Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Ark., received a platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design® (LEED®) rating from the U.S. Green Building Council. The 153,779 ft² building, which features...
• Online registration begins November 12 for Coverings 2008, set for April 29-May 2 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. Approximately 80 percent of the 37,000 registrants for this yearxs event in Chicago took advantage of the online service, available at www.coverings.com.
• Granite City Tool Co. launches www.cnctooladvice.com, an Internet forum for total advice on CNC needs. The Waite Park, Minn., company will offer the expertise of Tom Dingmann, CNC sales/purchasing manager; Marty White, CNC division manager and former U.S. national sales manager for Tyrolit-Vincent tools; Doug Fanning, CNC specialist with 15 years of machine experience; Ben Jensen, CNC specialist and former CNC application engineer for Komo Machine; and John “Rock” Davis, Midwest CNC Tool Specialist and leader of Granite City’s hand-on fabrication seminars.
• Japanese customs officials arrested two men in early March on suspicion of smuggling the country’s largest haul of ivory, according to Asia Today. Officials discovered the three-ton shipment in a container registered as...