MAPEI Turns 75, Gives $75K

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. – When MAPEI Group turned 75 last year, two Texas business owners got the big present … $50,000.

Jeff Bennett and Dale Walton of Business Flooring Specialists in Fort Worth, Texas, won the grand prize in the installation- and construction-products company’s 75K Giveaway Sweepstakes. Thirteeen other business owners won other prizes in the contest for a total value of – what else? — $75,000.

Click photo to enlargeBennett, president, and Walton, vice-president, are co-owners of Business Flooring Specialists.

“It was an absolute shock when we received the call that we won the grand prize of $50,000,” said Bennett. “I don’t think anyone ever believes they’ll get that kind of phone call. We’ve purchased a lot from MAPEI over the years and have always been pleased with the quality, performance and value of their products.”

“We thought the best way to celebrate our 75 years in business was to share the celebration with our business partners,” said Luigi Di Geso, MAPEI Americas president/CEO. “All the prizes we have given out as part of our 75th anniversary celebration are representative of our strong relationships with concrete and flooring contractors in the construction industry.

“We hope that we and all our partners will enjoy similar growth and success in the next 75 years.”

Other winners in the $75K Giveaway included a first prize of a Polaris Ranger RZR XP 900 ATV to John Laurie (Jack Laurie Flooring, Fort Wayne, Ind.). Four 60” flat-screen LCD TVs went out to second-prize winners Jennifer Helder (Ritsema Associates, Grandville, Mich.), Ria Francesca (Jantile, Inc., Bronx, N.Y.), Jim Judd (Master Craft Carpet Service Inc., Redford, Mich. and Steve Stefanyk (Benefit Floors Ltd., Surrey, B.C.)

The eight third-place winners receiving iPads are Dennis Arnold (Carpets by Dennis, Marietta, Ga.), Simon Kanaan (Sigma Marble, Houston), Marcel Sousa (Precision Tile and Granite Inc., Los Altos, Calif.), Chris Cornelius (Cornelius Contracting LLC, Spring, Texas). Yisroel Silverstone (Silver Stone Contracting Co., Lakewood, N.J.), Robert Bazzano (B&B Contracting Inc., Pompano Beach, Fla.), Larry Rogers (House of Floors, Killeen, Texas) and David Degol (Duncansville, Pa.)

Bennett was presented with a $50,000 check at the MAPEI press conference held during Surfaces 2013, the international trade show for floor covering professionals. All other winners received their prizes from their MAPEI area sales director and local sales representative.

Milan-based MAPEI Group, with 65 subsidiaries including 62 plants in 30 countries, manufacture of adhesives and complementary products for the installation of all types of floor and wall coverings, along with waterproofing products, special mortars and admixtures, restoration products and and special decorative/protective coatings for walls.

Get the news of the industry with The EDGE, the twice-monthly e-newsletter from Stone Update. Free subscriptions are available here.

For the latest industry info, check the daily Stone Update Today and our Facebook page.