A Dream Set in Stone: The Prestige Stone Story

The word prestige is defined as the respect and admiration earned through achievement or quality. Tucked away in rural southeastern Wayne County is a company with prestige right in its name and, as it turns out, plenty of reasons to live up to that very definition. Quality products, a dedicated team, exceptional customer service and steady growth are all part of the Prestige Stone story.

But long before Prestige Stone became part of his story, Paul Miller, the company’s current owner and chief executive officer, already had a lifelong connection to stone. With family members working in masonry, Miller grew up around the industry and began working in the field himself at just 15 years old.

“I worked with block and brick until age 19, and then worked as an installer until roughly 36,” said Miller. “After years of installation, I wanted something more challenging and was interested in getting into manufacturing.”

That interest in manufacturing, however, actually began much earlier. On his daily walk to school, Miller would pass a limestone company. “I always remember looking at the size of that operation and thinking, someday, I’m going to have a company like that,” said Miller.

Miller's someday finally came in 2014 when, while standing on scaffolding installing stone, he received a call from the founders of Prestige Stone. That call ultimately led to Miller purchasing a 40% stake in the business.

Originally founded in 2006 by two Amish owners, Prestige Stone was about to enter a new chapter. By 2015, Miller was ready to take full ownership. “I went back to the partners and essentially said, give me a number. I want to buy the whole thing,” said Miller.

It wasn’t until 2020 and 2022 when Miller was finally able to buy the original partners out, but since Miller’s original investment into Prestige Stone, the recurring theme has been build, build, build; growth, growth, growth.

When Miller joined Prestige Stone in 2014, there were 11 employees and he was very candid that the team situation was not good. “One of the biggest changes was intentionally building a strong team,” said Miller. “We added managers and supervisors and created more structure.”

Miller describes himself as “going 100 miles an hour” when he first started trying to get people engaged and moving in the same direction. “I learned a lot of lessons during that year, including stay humble, don’t have an ego and to surround yourself with people smarter than yourself,” said Miller. “I had to accept that one person cannot do everything, which contrasted with the mindset I had in my 20’s when I thought owning a business meant personally controlling everything.”

Today, Prestige Stone has 48 employees, and Miller feels the team is strong. “Now, we have people that care,” said Miller. “I really feel this is what changed the company.”

Customer feedback often praises Prestige Stone's quality and service, which Miller credits heavily to his employees. Among those he credits are Sales Manager Jamie Lynch, whose previous experience in stone manufacturing proved invaluable as Miller transitioned into the business; Crystal Wengerd, who has become a go-to person for human resources and office operations; and Plant Manager Nelson Miller, who helps turn Miller's ideas into new products through research and development. Miller is also quick to recognize the company's entire team of supervisors and managers, whose leadership plays an important role in Prestige Stone's continued success. That dedication is also reflected in the company's long-term employees, including a brother of one of Prestige Stone's original owners, who has remained with the company for approximately 20 years.

With an average annual growth rate of 17%, including continued growth throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Prestige Stone has also significantly expanded its distributor network. When Miller joined the company, it had just over 60 distributors. Today, that number has grown to approximately 200 across the United States and Canada.

That growth, however, has been intentional. To protect existing distributors, Prestige Stone provides dealers with a geographic territory spanning a 50- to 70-mile radius, provided they are actively selling the company's products. “In fact, we actually turn down potential new dealers regularly,” said Miller. “We work hard to protect existing dealer territories.”

And while interest in Prestige Stone's products has reached as far as Italy and other countries, the company currently limits its distribution to the United States and Canada.

Returning to Miller's recurring theme of “build, build, build; growth, growth, growth,” Prestige Stone has completed five expansions since 2015 and is currently undertaking its sixth. The first included a 12,000-square-foot addition to the rear of the main facility, followed by new offices at the front of the building. In 2017, the company established its mold shop in Moreland, which currently employs four people. Subsequent expansions included an additional 32,000 square feet at the main facility and, in 2022, an addition to the mold shop.

Now, the company's sixth expansion is underway, making room for a new product line, providing employees with additional production space and creating more room for product development, including new profiles and colors.

Beyond building a strong team and expanding its facilities, Miller has also focused on transforming Prestige Stone's product lineup. “We have essentially flipped Prestige Stone completely around from what it was when I purchased it,” said Miller. “When I came in, much of the stone had an orange tone and wasn't particularly attractive or current.”

That transformation involved developing new stone profiles while phasing out older styles to continually refresh the company's offerings. “We've developed approximately seven new profiles over the past decade,” said Miller.

With design trends constantly evolving, color also plays a significant role in product development. “My goal is to stay ahead of the trends rather than react to them,” said Miller. “I want to offer enough variety that customers don't need to go somewhere else to find what they're looking for.”

Miller, who says he has an “eye for stone,” often finds inspiration while traveling. “I love to study stonework on older buildings, including buildings dating back to the early 1900s,” said Miller. “If I see an old design I like, I start thinking about how Prestige Stone could reinterpret it.”

Visits to quarries and the study of natural stone profiles also influence his ideas, along with input from designers, distributor feedback, social media and broader design trends. “I'm always taking screenshots of profiles or colors I like and sharing them with the team,” said Miller. “However, I don't immediately jump on a trend. I typically wait until I've heard the same idea from three or four different sources before acting on it.”

Prestige Stone has also found success through partnerships with social media influencers. “Sometimes we provide stone in exchange for exposure,” said Miller. “One influencer's project had an especially significant impact, as the featured stone, our Venice Southern line, became our number one seller.”

That same stone profile was also featured on HGTV, giving the Prestige Stone team an opportunity to experience the excitement firsthand. “Our employees got to travel to see the finished HGTV house and participate in the final house reveal,” said Miller. “It was a very fun and different experience.”

Looking ahead, the company's sixth expansion will help support an entirely new product line that takes Prestige Stone beyond its traditional masonry-installed offerings. “Our new line is designed specifically to reach a do-it-yourself market,” said Miller. “Rather than mixing mortar, the product can essentially be screwed into place.” Although Miller jokingly admits he's “not a screw guy,” he recognizes the potential of reaching a new customer base.

The difference extends beyond installation. While traditional boxes of stone weigh approximately 110–115 pounds, the new product weighs around 56 pounds per box. The concept is to make stone installation more accessible, allowing homeowners to purchase a few boxes at a retail store, take them home and complete the project themselves.

Although the company is still refining aspects of the new line, the product is already available and can be used indoors or outdoors. “The long-term goal is to get the new product into big-box retailers,” said Miller. “One of our Canadian distributors is already pursuing big-box opportunities with the product.”

Looking to the future, Miller hopes to grow Prestige Stone's current facility to its full potential, with a workforce of approximately 65–70 employees, before eventually opening a second location.

“I'd like to see my kids take over the current facility, and then the dream is to open a second location in the southern states,” said Miller. “A southern location would offer logistical advantages, particularly by reducing transportation costs when serving customers in southern markets.”

Despite the company's continued growth and his ambitious vision for the future, Miller remains very much involved in its day-to-day operations. Rather than spending his days behind a desk, he typically begins his mornings alongside employees on the manufacturing floor, checking on production, answering questions and making sure things are running smoothly. He also frequently travels with his sales team to meet customers and personally attends home shows, believing it's important for customers to put a face with the company.

It's this commitment to quality and customer service that puts prestige in Prestige Stone. After all, prestige isn’t simply something you call yourself. It’s something you earn.

To learn more about Prestige Stone, visit prestigestoneproducts.com