Jeff Matthews, left, accepts the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award from Tony Malisani, Marble Institute of America's (MIA) president.

Jeffrey Matthews, owner of Trade International of Atlanta, has been awarded the 2014 Migliore Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Marble Institute of America (MIA).

Matthews, a native of Washington D.C., has been in the stone industry since the early 1970s, gaining more than four decades of experience in sales, marketing consulting and service to the industry and MIA.

Matthew's was named MIA's youngest president in 1986. Over the years, he and other officers were instrumental in revising the Dimension Stone Design Manual (DSDM), producing the MIA Stone Color Book, and assisting MIA with becoming a more relevant organization.

His involvement with MIA continued after leaving the board. He assisted in authoring the early version of the Stone Selection & Stone Testing technical bulletin, as well as helping to complete version 6 of DSDM, after Vincent Migliore, MIA's technical director, passed away.

Currently, Matthews is working with other MIA volunteers on a new Supplier to Buyer stone manual.

“[Matthew's] vast knowledge makes him a valuable asset to our industry, but more than that is his unwavering dedication to the betterment of our industry," said David Carnevale of Carnevale and Lohr in Bell Gardens, Calif.

For more information, visit marble-institute.com.