About the Author

Jeffrey Girard, the founder and president of The Concrete Countertop Institute, Raleigh, N.C., and a pioneer of engineered concrete countertops, has been a leader of innovation in concrete countertops since 1998. Girard is a licensed, professional civil engineer with a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Massachusetts. He also is an active member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Concrete Institute and the American Society of Concrete Contractors.

Girard has over 13 years of innovative, cutting-edge civil engineering experience. After graduating from UMass in 1993, he worked for the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory in Port Hueneme, Calif. There he worked on advanced civil engineering projects for the United States Navy, an experience that enabled him to approach complex challenges from new and different directions.

After leaving California in late 1998 and moving to North Carolina, Girard faced a challenge that would change the course of his career and introduce him to the versatility of decorative concrete. He was remodeling his own kitchen and decided to make a concrete countertop for it. He approached the project as only an engineer would – by pulling his engineering textbooks off the shelf, performing months of research, testing and design, and treating the countertop as an engineering project. In the course of his research, he noticed a growing demand for quality concrete countertops, which inspired him to launch his own concrete countertop manufacturing company.

Over the years, as demand for concrete countertops continued to spread across the country, Girard saw the need for training to ensure the production of high-quality concrete countertops, and thus continued growth in their popularity. In early 2004, he founded The Concrete Countertop Institute (www.ConcreteCountertopInstitute.com), with the mission of raising the standard for concrete countertops through quality standards and comprehensive education. Through CCI, Girard offers intensive training programs that help contractors succeed in the business of making concrete countertops. Girard also works with manufacturers through the CCI Alliance program to promote the design and distribution of the best possible products for making concrete countertops.

In 2006, Girard developed the Concrete Connections website, located at http://www.concretecountertops.net/. The website provides information for contractors, the trade and homeowners that helps educate and inform about concrete countertops, promoting their use and helping to grow the concrete countertop industry. The website also offers a membership program that is a networking group and informational resource for concrete countertop professionals.

One of Girard’s most recent projects is the Concrete Countertop Industry Conference (CCIC), an annual conference that provides contractors with the latest information about concrete countertops by bringing together industry experts and manufacturers representing all of the resources available for successful concrete countertop making. The first annual conference was held November 6-7, 2006 in Raleigh, NC, with 250 people from around the world in attendance. The second annual conference will be held October 25-27, 2007 in Charlotte, NC, and its website is www.CCIC2007.com.