Mike Faso, Randy Severson, and Guido Gliori (L-R)

November 12, 2009: The winner of the very first Marble Institute of America natural stone “Craftsman of the Year” award was selected by a six-member panel of stone industry veterans. Randy Severson, general superintendent at Carrara Marble Company located in City of Industry, California, was the recipient of this prestigious honor. The awards assembly took place at the MIA Annual Awards Luncheon during StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas in Las Vegas on October 23 of this year. LATICRETE was one of the event’s co-sponsors.

“We were pleased to co-sponsor this very upscale, professional event,” stated Sean Boyle, LATICRETE Director, Marketing & Product Management. “The Marble Institute of America is a world-leading authority on natural dimensional stone and is geared to help its members succeed. LATICRETE is a world-leading manufacturer/marketer of installation systems for tile and stone with an acute focus on helping its clientele, as well. Both organizations have a lot in common; we felt it was apropos to step up and participate as a sponsor for the debut of this impressive award.”

The actual award presented to Severson was a 40 pound, beautifully crafted multi-material plaque, which according to MIA executive vice president Gary Distelhorst, CAE, “probably took 200 man-hours to create.” Distelhorst went on to comment, “Within the dimensional stone industry, there is an elite cadre of professionals including outstanding individuals such as Randy Severson. We felt certain people deserve recognition for their major contributions within our trade. As a result, we created the ‘MIA Craftsman of the Year’ competition. We are confident that our recent MIA Craftsman of the Year award presentation was the first of a highly focal, annual event for many years to come.”

Mike Faso, technical sales representative at LATICRETE, spoke at the presentation on behalf of his company. He, along with Guido Gliori, executive vice president of Grazzini Brothers of Eagan, MN, who represented the other sponsor, Campolonghi Italia, physically presented the stunning award to Randy Severson.

LATICRETE International, Inc. is a family owned business dedicated to innovative, high quality tile and stone installation systems. Based in the USA, the 50-plus year old company is one of the world’s leading manufacturers in its field. It’s well known brands LATICRETE®, LATAPOXY® and SpectraLOCK® are manufactured and sold worldwide. USA /Canada: 1.800.243.4788, outside USA: +1.203.393.0010, www.laticrete.com.