Natural Stone Institute: New Board Members
OBERLIN, Ohio – This year’s lineup with the Natural Stone Institute’s board of directors including two new members: Blake Christensen and Amit Gupta.
Blake ChristensenChristensen is the owner/CEO of Valley View Granite in Tremonton Utah. His 20+ years in the natural-stone industry began when he fabricated and installed slab countertops while attending high school in Southern California in 1997. He founded Valley View Granite in 2003, which now fabricates and installs natural slab products from six locations throughout Utah and Idaho and holds Natural Stone Institute accreditation.
Christensen donated to the Gary Sinise Foundation R.I.S.E. program and helped install the natural stone in the Use Natural Stone booth for KBIS. He serves on several association boards.
Amit GuptaGupta is the chairman/CEO for TAB /Amsum & Ash in Jaipur, India. Beginning his stone career at age 23, Gupta (with his younger brother Sumit) founded TAB and Amsum & Ash during college. The company began operations as a manufacturer of natural-stone products; with Amit’s leadership and Sumit’s manufacturing prowess, it now employs 1,200 through its global operations.
Gupta helped support the association during the radon crisis, hosted industry events at the company’s facility, and aided in fundraising efforts for the Use Natural Stone Promotional campaign.
Christensen and Gupta replace Bruce Knaphus (KEPCO+) and Josh Zhang (Jianming Stone Group) who completed their board terms.
“We are excited to have Blake and Amit join the board this year and are grateful to Bruce and Josh for their board service,” said Mike Picco, institute board president.
The Natural Stone Institute membership recently passed a bylaw to adjust the structure of the board of directors. Going forward, the Natural Stone Institute board of directors will include representation from five key North American industry segments — fabricator, installer, quarrier, restoration & maintenance, and stone distributor — as well as one director from the associate member segment, two directors from outside North America, and five North American at-large positions. The total number of board seats will remain unchanged at 13.
In 2021, three board seats will be recruited: associate member, North American quarrier, and North American installer.
“We strongly feel that the board is assembled with one primary purpose: to serve the membership,” Picco added. “We feel that this change has strengthened this mandate.”
To learn more about opportunities to serve on the Natural Stone Institute board, visit www.naturalstoneinstitute.org/boardelections.
Get the news of the industry with Slab & Sheet, the e-newsletter from Stone Update. Sign up for free delivery here.
For the latest industry info, check Stone Update on Twitter and Facebook.
Experience the totally new Stone Update Magazine online.
Listen to our new podcast of Radio Stone Update.
