[August 14th, 2008] Maurizio Bertoli is lost due to a tragic car accident. Though the man is no longer with us MB Stone continues to strive to support his vision and maintain his legacy as an outmost stone professional who always put the customer first.

[2004 – 2008] Maurizio began teaching his classes on stone restoration and maintenance out of a state-of-the-art facility in Folcroft, PA. The fee that he charges is among the highest in the industry, but his classes are always sold-out. Pictures and testimonials of his classes are available in the “Training and Consultation” section of his website.  Starting June 16, 2004 he brought his class to the shores of Australia. (It was a complete success that was to be repeated on December of the same year,July 2005 and February 2006.) Still on June 2004 as a consequence of his appointed by the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) as the official trainer for the restoration and maintenance of federal buildings with marble, terrazzo, granite and other stones floors, he started his first training section. His first assignment was the House of Senate in Washington, DC, the second largest public office building in the world, boasting approximately 1.5 million square feet of marble and terrazzo floors dating back 1903. The first round of training was followed by another one a year later (June 2005) after the staff of the AOC had the opportunity to intensively test the maintenance program and products that Mr. Bertoli had tailored for them in the first training area of the House of Senate. On July 27, 2004 the New York Daily News published a 2 1/5 page editorial about him. Starting August, 2004, together with three business associates from three different countries, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia he founded marblecleaning.org, a consortium of stone experts set up with the purpose of gathering the voice of the end-users and end-users-to-be of natural stone products and represent them within the stone industry establishment. As a consequence of that, the three gentlemen further founded the International Training Centers for the Stone Industry (I.T.C.S), to offer the solution along with the introduction of the problem. The ITCS will become a full-fledged school to train contractors at installing marble and other natural stone tiles, at fabricating countertops and other objects made out of stone, and, of course, at maintaining an restoring stone products. His classes, which have the potential of being expanded to other countries, will be ITCSI classes. Because of all this incredible activity and the deep passion that motivates him, in January 2005 the Marble Institute of America (MIA) – the largest stone trade association in the entire world – offered him honorary membership and asked him to write a book on stone restoration and maintenance that, once gone through all due process, has the potential of becoming the official book on the subject of the MIA. Maurizio Bertoli has recently finished writing such book (over 300 pages), which is currently under evaluation by the MIA.

[2001 – 2003] Maurizio Bertoli began to participate to internet activities in stone industry forums helping end-users of stone out with their problems and gripes stemming by a widespread specific ignorance displayed by all too many industry operators. His aggressive and outspoken and at time amusing writing style, teamed with his in-depth knowledge of stone and his uncanny ability to diagnose problems, made him a “celebrity” at international level within the industry. His no-comprise approach to the major problems plaguing the stone industry, namely the lack of professional training and certification, made him a relentless knight publicly fighting the stone industry establishment. His points were so well-taken and so strongly expressed that gave him even further exposure. On December 2003 he was approached and then hired as “sole purveyor” by the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) to train the in-house crews assigned to federal building with natural stone and terrazzo floors to properly restore and maintain them. It’s Mr. Bertoli’s most prestigious appointment to date. More on this later on.

[1996 – 2000] Mr. Bertoli started the formulation of a polishing powder for marble, MB-12 that was to become an industry breakthrough. After fine-tuning the formula a couple of times, he started selling it to other stone restoration contractors who adopted it enthusiastically. That was the first product of its professional line, which ended up including another outstanding polishing powder for granite, MB-16, as well as another breakthrough in polished stone floors maintenance and preservation, MB-8 and its team-mate MB-10. (The latter two products were formulated by his associated chemist Joe McEwen.)

[1992 – 1995] Mr. Bertoli began a round of seminars on the subject of stone specification and maintenance both at local and national levels. Among the most notable: StonExpo ’93, Orlando, FL, 1993; CHFI-FM Radio interview, Toronto, ON, 1994; Home Improvement Show, Washington DC, 1995. Technical articles carrying his signature and published by all major industry magazines have grown too numerous to list, although in 1996 he stopped submitting any new article on count of censorship by more than one editor. In addition he has produced a series of educational literature on the subject of stone specification, installation and maintenance.

[1991]  Invited to speak on the subject of stone specification, installation and maintenance at the annual meeting of the Monmouth and Ocean County (NJ) Chapter of A.I.A. He was asked to return for the 1997 conference.

[1990]  Expending his expertise and private studies on petrography and chemistry as applied to natural stone, he was featured in a two page editorial in the Asbury Park Press (the second largest newspaper in New Jersey) and developed a complete line of Marble maintenance products.

[1984]  He founded "Maurizio Bertoli", a sole proprietorship, specializing in "grind-in-place" installation of marble floors, restoration and re-polishing of marble and granite installations.

[1979 - 1981]  Sold his Italian based flooring company and became involved in new business endeavors which prompted him to move to New Jersey with his wife Laura and two sons, Giorgio and Giulio.

[1974 - 1978]  Expanded his professional horizons by increasing his company's local reach and installing high-end marble floors all over Italy, Switzerland and southern France.

[1971 - 1973]  While continuing to run his marble flooring company, Mr. Bertoli undertook private studies in the area of Petrography (a branch of Geology focusing on rocks) and chemistry as applied to Marble and natural stone.

[1969]  Completed his formal education, acquiring a BA equivalent degree in Accounting and Marketing.

[1968]  Purchased the marble flooring company he had been working for upon the passing of the former owner.

[1963 - 1967]  Worked as a marble floor setter (exclusively with the "grind-in-place" method) while completing his university education in Parma, Italy.)

[1959 - 1962]  At the age of 16 he began his current career path by working in a marble fabrication facility in Parma, Italy as a summer job.”