Rockheads Arrive in Atlanta
CLEVELAND – The Rockheads Group network of surfacing industry entrepreneurs drew a big crowd – more than 85 – during its Spring 2018 member summit in Atlanta running concurrently with Coverings 2018.
The group held a successful full day and a half event with participation from some of the leading stone and surfacing fabricators in North America, as well as key strategic partners.
Click photo to enlargeThe event was hosted at Terminus 330, an events venue adjacent to the Coverings expo at the Georgia World Convention Center. As part of the agenda, members were able to engage on in-depth conversations around financial benchmarks and bettering their company’s bottom line.
During the interactive roundtable discussions, members were able to share their individual experience on how sales prices, cost of materials, cost of labor, rework and material optimization can have a significant impact to their financial performance.
The event calendar also included visits to stone and quartz distributors Cosentino and MSI, where members had the opportunity to review new products and materials as well as engage in deeper conversations around the future of the quartz industry.
“Bringing our growing member base together to participate and share their business opportunities and challenges is one of the most rewarding things about being a Rockhead,” said Jon Kaplan, Rockheads Group managing partner. “Complementing that with quality time spent with our key suppliers makes our events that much more beneficial.
“With so many options to engage in industry meetings and trade groups, we channel all of our efforts into making sure members have exclusive access to insights and benefits, as well as have key action items to implement when they go back home. This has been our best event by far”
The event was hosted by some of the Rockheads preferred vendors which include GranQuartz, Braxton-Bragg, BACA Systems, Laser Products and ESGI Safety. In attendance to the event were also Jim Hieb, CEO for the Natural Stone Institute, and Bill Darcy, CEO of the National Kitchen and Bath Association, who both spoke about the benefits of engaging with each respective association to broaden business networks and knowledge.
Elle H-Millard, former HGTV Design Star and now NKBA Insider, also presented on the latest surfacing trends observed in Milan as part of EuroCucina.
“Our members are looking for a unique experience,” said Lorenzo Marquez, president of Marqet Group and executive member of the Rockheads Group.
The event was produced by Marqet Group, a Houston-based marketing firm behind the Rockheads Group rebranding and the marketing efforts of several of the organization’s members.
Following the meeting, Rockheads Group members will be working on their yearly financial benchmark process, where they will confidentially rank their business performance around key performance indicators as well as measuring their company’s financial health. Findings of this process will be released during the next Group meeting in August which will be hosted by Inspiration Design Center of Burnsville, Minn.
The Rockheads Group is a private entrepreneur group of more than 85 industry leading stone and surfacing fabrication businesses. Member selection is based on business a culture of striving to be the industry best-in-class in size, stature or profitability. The professional trade group is dedicated to raising fabrication standards, promoting best practices across the industry with key focus areas in customer service, financials, technology and leadership, as well as group purchasing.
For more information on the Rockheads Group, please visit www.rockheadsusa.com
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