It is hard to believe that nearly three years have gone by since AZ School of Rock first opened as an independent training institution for hands-on natural stone fabrication training!
The fall of 2007 was not exactly the most "ideal" economic time to start an independent school dedicated to helping people who want to become Natural Stone Fabricators, but I did, and AZ School of Rock is still "hangin' in there." We are now the only independent HandsOn Training School for Natural Stone Fabrication in the world.
Up until now, I had been very fortunate to have my good friend TJ Sherwood of Vintage Granite in Gilbert Arizona, open up his shop for my four-day hands-on training course. But as time went by, and both the school (AZSOR) and TJ's businesses grew (in spite of a sluggish economy), I knew that someday I would want to have my own separate shop location to hold my training classes each month.
In June of 2010, our dream came true as we were able to re-locate AZ School of Rock to a permanent facility of our own in Gilbert, Arizona (a suburb of Phoenix). Our new shop location has 2,250 square feet of dedicated shop and training area. This has enough room for 12 students each month when we hold our four-day hands-on training course in Gilbert.
We still bring our students to TJ's shop as a "Field trip," so they can see a great example of how a granite fabrication shop can function with a small number of shop workers and still be profitable (in today's challenging economy). TJ has made good choices in selecting machines and products that work well for his market area, and his shop is a great role model for new fabrication shops to use as an example for their own operations.
Additionally, AZ School of Rock will be offering Natural Stone Flooring and Wall Restoration classes at our Gilbert facility starting in August of 2010. We have been able to acquire the support of a number of companies that produce restoration products and equipment, and the natural path is to make this training an added service of AZ School of Rock. Since we already teach scratch and chip repair on Natural Stone Countertops, adding floor and wall restoration seemed like the right thing to do - especially since we now have a Samich "Legend CT" for doing countertop restoration. Since the same principals apply to larger areas, we have added restoration to our as training program offerings. The Concrete Countertop Institute will also be offering their classes this fall at the AZ School of Rock.
So, the bottom line here is that AZ School of Rock is doing more than just Natural Stone Fabrication training. We teach our students how to be as versatile as possible in today's market climate, and we are moving forward - using our own advice to be a more versatile training institution. We are training up the "next generation" of Stone Professionals.
Best Regards & Happy Fabricating!
Hands-On Natural Stone Fabrication Training is taught every month by AZ School of Rock. For more information, contact Kevin M. Padden at www.azschoolofrock.com , by phone at 480-309-9422 or via e-mail at info@azschoolofrock.com
AZ School of Rock is doing more than just Natural Stone Fabrication training. We teach our students how to be as versatile as possible in today's market climate, and we are moving forward - using our own advice to be a more versatile training institution.
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