Company Briefs – June 2006

• STONEPRO, the exclusive distributor of DIAFORCE products, is now known as Helix Professional Tools. The change, effective June 1, comes as the Buffalo Grove, Ill.-based company found its previous name to be too prevalent and confusing in the market, and not unique for the tooling offered. “We wanted something that would convey our unique offerings and not create confusion for our customers in the marketplace,” said Mark Smith, Helix vice president.
• Marmo Machinery USA will hold its Fourth Annual Summer Machine Open House July 21-22 at its Southfield, Mich., headquarters, exhibiting a representative sample of the company’s major equipment segments of bridge saws, polishers, CNC machines and water reclamation/dust intake equipment. In addition, attendees will be treated to a BBQ lunch each day, and a free Detroit Tigers/Oakland Athletics baseball game on July 21.
• Sales of ETemplate Systems’ ETemplate Photo digital templating and measuring system saw a growth of almost 200 percent through the first quarter of 2006, following record sales in 2005. Company representatives attribute the sales growth to the countertop industry understanding the benefits of digital measuring, along with fabricators who own other digital systems adding or converting to ETemplate. ETemplate Systems is a division of Tri-Tech Solutions Inc., a privately held corporation located in Raleigh, N.C.
• Vinci Stone Products Inc. is completing the renovation and restoration of the historic 25-acre Butler Quarry that the Marriotsville, Md., company acquired in 2005. Mined since the early 1800s, the quarry’s gneiss stone is known for its warm and distinctive silver-grey-brown appearance; A.J. Vinci, company president, says that several new state-of-the art machines and equipment are now in use, with the additional ability to produce natural-stone veneer. The Butler operations complements the company’s other quarries: the original Vinci Quarry in Randallstown, Md., and the Piccirilli Quarry in Marriottsville.
• Bethany, Ct.-based LATICRETE International opens a 107,640 ft² plant in Salaspils, Latvia. Located 11 miles from the capital of Riga, the new facility will employ 40 people, and will be run by Genady Jakimenko, president and senior partner/owner, who’s worked in distribution of LATICRETE products in Latvia for more than 10 years. The plant will feature a new micro-dosing machine to carefully measure mixing ratios, and fully-automated handling equipment for existing LATICRETE suppliers.
• Samsung announces that Rugby IPD Corp. is the first authorized distributor of Staron® Quartz in Chicago and Indiana. Tempe, Ariz.-based Rugby is a wholesale distributor of name-brand surfacing with 12 distribution centers nationwide.
• Questech Corp. opens a new 70,000 ft² headquarters and manufacturing plant in Rutland, Vt. The new facility features fully automated equipment for producing the company’s decorative tiles and tumbled-marble field tiles with Q-Seal™ lifetime sealer.
• Kevin S. Sause of Ceramic Tile Work in Punta Gorda, Fla., won the top-tier giveaway at the Brazil Pavilion at Coverings 2006 in April; the grand prize was a Ford F-150 XLT, although Sause opted to take a $25,000 cash prize instead. In a giveaway at Coverings coordinated by the National Tile Contractors Association, two tool packages valued at $5,000 each went to Bill Tillman of Decorative Flooring Products in Gilbert, Ariz., and Mareth Kotze of Antique Stones in Atlanta.