New Board Members at Natural Stone Institute
OBERLIN, Ohio – The Natural Stone Institute will bring three new members to its board of directors in 2022.
The new directors are Sam Arcot of Ruco Stone LLC in Lorton, Va. (North American installer) ; Darrell Petit of Stony Creek Quarry in Branford, Conn.(North American Quarrier); and Filippo Emanuel of TENAX USA LLC in Charlotte, N.C. (Associate member).
The three will be formally welcomed to the board during the first meeting of 2022 at TISE in February.
Arcot is the special projects manager at Rugo Stone. With more than 22 years of experience, Arcot began his career in the Indian stone industry at the age of 17 as an entrepreneur. Arcot is an MBA graduate and has a strong background in sales, marketing, and business development. He joined Ruco Stone in 2010.
Arcot spearheaded the company’s marketing initiatives to promote natural-stone products and to strategically diversify operations to target niche markets which require a combination of highly skilled/experienced workforce as well as the latest technology in stone fabrication. Arcot was the recipient of the Natural Stone Institute’s Natural Stone Scholarship in 2013, and has volunteered for many NSI delegation trips and Stone Summits. Arcot is also currently a mentor in the Women in Stone Mentorship Program.
Petit has worked in all capacities of the Stony Creek Quarry since 1990. He has led the team on many projects including: The Statue of Liberty Museum, The Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, Columbia University, the Second Division Memorial in Washington’s President’s Park, and 550 Madison in New York.
An internationally renowned sculptor, he has worked with quarries around the world—such as Lundhs in Norway—to complete monumental sculptures including those for the Chubu Museum and Cultural Center in Japan, Yale University Peabody Museum, Four Seasons One Dalton Boston, and the Egyptian Ministry of Culture.
Petit has been a member of the NSF Joint Committee on Dimensional Stone to develop the ANSI/NSC 373 sustainability assessment for natural dimension stone, and currently volunteers as a mentor for the Women in Stone Mentorship Program. He was an early adopter of the Natural Stone Institute’s testing lab, and also volunteers on the association’s sustainability committee.
Emanuel is the founder and CEO of TENAX USA. After 14 years in the Italian Navy both as a jet pilot and as ship’s captain, Emanuel moved to the US in 1998 to develop the market for TENAX S.p.A, a leading Italian manufacturer of consumable products for the stone industry.
In 2000 he founded TENAX USA LLC and became its general manager. Since then, the company has grown exponentially, making the INC 5000 List of fastest growing companies in the US five times in less than eight years. From 2012 to 2016 Emanuel was also in charge of TENAX do BRASIL, acquiring an enormous amount of experience in the stone industry both from the manufacturing point of view and of the fabrication side of the business.
Emanuel has supported the association’s safety committee and multiple networking events. He has also provided equipment resources for the association’s testing lab.
Five outgoing board members — Herwig Callewier of Beltrami Natural Stone, Leonardo De Tatagiba of Granitos Zucchi, Mariavittoria Grassi of Grassi Pietre, Marcella Prado of LATICRETE and Robert Zavagno of Cleveland Marble Mosaic — will conclude their board service at the January 2022 board meeting.
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.
