MIA+BSI Announce Person of the Year
Kathy Spanier
Director of Marketing
Coldspring
Cold Spring, Minnesota
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Kathy Spanier, MIA+BSI 2016 Person of the Year |
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Kathy Spanier, Director of Marketing for Coldspring (bottom left, at an MIA roundtable), is the recipient of the 2016 Person of the Year Award. |
With over 35 years of marketing experience, Kathy Spanier has spent the past decade advocating for advancing leadership and sustainability within the natural stone industry. She has been instrumental in helping the industry at large tell its sustainability story while achieving significant milestones in the sustainability movement. She has also been a longtime, active member of BSI’s editorial committee, helping shape the new Building Stone Magazine, and has been a vocal member of the BSI Board of Directors since 2013.
She currently serves as Secretary on the BSI Executive Committee. Cari May, Marketing Manager at Coldspring said: “Kathy will be the first to tell you that while her past experiences have made her who she is today, the past 10 years with Coldspring have been the epitome of her career. Kathy is strategic, driven, and motivated. Perhaps her sustainability journey throughout the past 10 years lends some light as to why she truly is at the highlight of her career.”
As chair of the Natural Stone Council’s Committee on Sustainability, Kathy has been a driving force in having NSC 373 recognized by the Living Building Challenge, the US Green Building Council and other regulatory groups. Moe Bohrer former chairman of the Natural Stone Council, commented: “The natural stone industry is a male-dominated industry. Kathy has overcome numerous obstacles as she has courageously worked tirelessly in promoting sustainability. As a result, she is now recognized throughout the industry as the ‘go-to person’ regarding sustainability and NSC 373.”
When John Mattke, President of Coldspring, learned of Kathy’s award recognition, he proudly reached out to Jason F. McLennan, Founder and former International Living Future Institute CEO, to share a thought about the influential role she has played in our industry. As one who has interacted with Kathy for years to help guide Coldspring’s evolution in the sustainability space, McLennan shared the following: “Kathy has been an instrumental leader in helping the entire natural stone industry improve its environmental performance through countless hours of advocacy, education, standards review and general leadership.
“Kathy has had great success both internally in her company as a change agent – and nationally through her work with the stone industry and in support of transformational organizations like the Living Future Institute and the U.S. Green Building Council.”
MIA+BSI EVP Jane Bennett appreciates Kathy’s commitment: “She has an understanding of the material as well as a passionate commitment to advance the effort. Kathy’s role as the NSC Sustainability Chair really satisfied a need in our organization.”
In addition to her work with sustainability, Kathy has also been active in developing the MIA+BSI Women in Stone initiative and continues her work in all areas with a passion for inspiring and leading, mentoring, and developing talent. Kathy serves on the Women in Stone steering committee and in 2016 helped launch the Women in Stone Mentorship Program, which pairs industry veterans and newcomers, providing an important opportunity to build relationships and learn about the industry.
Kathy is presently working on behalf of MIA+BSI with the Women in Stone steering committee to build upon the success of a Speed Mentoring program launched at Coverings in 2016. To assist in bringing the MIA+BSI membership closer together, she is working on the development of a Speed Networking program that will be conducted as part of the MIA+BSI Convention in Daytona, this April.
Beyond her work with Coldspring and her involvement in the stone industry, Kathy’s leadership is further exemplified through voluntary service and community involvement, along with teaching strategy and marketing at the Anderson Center for Management and Leadership Development in St. Cloud, Minnesota.