Oberlin, Ohio—The Natural Stone Institute (NSI) said it will welcome two individuals to its board of directors in January 2023. The new NSI board members are as follows:
Restoration and maintenance
Sal Banchitta, Simple Stone Care
Banchitta, who graduated from Hunter College with a Bachelors in geology, has served the natural stone industry for over 35 years in diverse capacities. Banchitta’s unique concept of a “one-stop shopping” business model created Stone Boss Industries in 1991 and his international start-up partnerships with Akemi GmbH and Bellizoni SRL successfully branded these products in the USA. This was his incentive to create Simple Stone Care, Banchitta said, a made-in-the-USA manufacturing company that today offers a quality product line for the care, restoration and maintenance of natural stone.
Banchitta also established a network of made-in-the-USA raw material suppliers and developed proprietary formulations in collaboration with other cleaning supply manufacturers and Fortune 500 chemical companies. He currently serves as a technical consultant for large companies in building management and restoration. According to NSI, his expertise is often sought out by stone workers and executive management alike as an advisor and problem solver.
Global (International)
Irini Papagiannouli, John Papagiannoulis Bros SA
Papagiannouli is currently part of the third generation of John Papagiannoulis Bros SA and an ambassador of natural stone and timeless Greek marble. She has a background in public relations, event management, marketing and communications and the nonprofit sector. She also has 10 years of experience in high-impact projects before joining the family business and is a board member at the Greek Marble Association (GMA) working on strategic partnerships, marketing of natural stone and being a liaison to the NSI.
Papagiannouli is a participant of the Women in Stone program and is passionate about sustainability, digital transformation, design and architecture, international collaborations and the positive impact companies and sector associations can have on a local and global level.
Banchitta and Papagiannouli will be formally welcomed to the board during the first meeting of 2023 at StonExpo in Las Vegas. The NSI thanked its outgoing NSI board members, Ali Kader (Egy-Mar International) and Michael Picco (PICCO Engineering), who will conclude their board service at the January 2023 board meeting.