Back to Basics with MIA Quarry Tours/Boot Camp

CLEVELAND – It’s everything but the sunrise reveille this summer for the Stone Boot Camp and Quarry Tours from the Marble Institute of America (MIA).

The training program, on July 31-Aug. 2 in St. Cloud, Minn., offers a blend of classroom instruction and facility visits, all in an intense, fast-paced environment of basic training (but without the inspections and the chipped-beef-on-toast.)

The two days of training and tours will offer a wide spectrum of information, from a better understanding of geology to quarry production to sustainability goals to training on production and machine care/maintenance.

 The schedule includes a welcome reception on July 31, followed by two packed days of activities. MIA Technical Director Chuck Muehlbauer will lead seminars on geology (Aug. 1) and transitioning from commercial to residential production (Aug. 2); Fred Jackson of Estudio Group will present sessions on Aug. 2 for selling stone’s sustainability, along with natural-stone care and maintenance.

Quarry tours include the Charcoal Black Quarry (with history provided by Terry Boerboom of the Minnesota Geological Survey) and the Rockville Quarry, both located near St. Cloud.

Facility visits include fabricator Granite-Tops and Cold Spring Granite Co. in Cold Spring, Minn; Granite City Tool Co. and Stone Holding Co. in Waite Park, Minn., and Park Industries in St. Cloud.

Registration (until June 15) is $249 per person for MIA members and $349 for non-members. Each participant will receive the MIA Dimension Stone Design Manual CD and several training documents, worth a total value of $299).

Lodging for the event is available through the Holiday Inn St. Cloud at 320-253-9000; ask for the Marble Institute room block.

Sponsors/hosts for the event are Cold Spring Granite, Granite City Tool, Granite-Tops, Miles Supply Co., Park Industries and Stone Holding Co.

For more information, go here.

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