Full Service Studios?

[mmezalick]

I recently came across a newspaper article by Los Angeles Times writer Bettijane Levine.
The article tells a story of how homeowners are wanting to have hand made stained glass in their homes again. The ?real?stuff with all the imperfections.
The question I have is in the closing statement made by Richard Gross, speaking on behalf of the SGAA, that there are fewer than100 full-service stained glass studios in the United States.
I wonder what it takes to qualifies as a full service studio.
I can count over 30 ?full service? studios (design, fabricate, or repair) in a 15 mile radius from us.
Could there be less than 70 throughout the rest of the country?
Michael Mezalick

[Richard Gross]

I got misquoted in the L.A. Times? That's cool. I thought you had to be a politician for that to happen.

I talk to a lot of reporters; I don't really remember this one in particular. Most of them want hard numbers, but since accurate numbers don't really exist I don't give them.

I would guess she probably asked how many studios there are in the country and I told her that I don't know... but that there are around 100 full-service studios in the Stained Glass Association of America. She probably figured it would be a poor business decision to be a full-service studio and not be in the SGAA. If that was the assumption she made, then I couldn't agree more.

But, like I said, I don't really remember her in particular, so that's speculation. Fortunately, I don't have to speculate at all to answer your question about what it takes to qualify as a full-service studio. I would direct you to the Bylaws of the Stained Glass Association of America: Article III, Membership; section 1, Categories; paragraph A, Fully-Accredited Members; sub-paragraph 1, Accredited Full Service Studio: "Applicant shall be an owner, partner, principal, or appointee of a stained and/or decorative art glass business which has been either actively designing and/or manufacturing stained and/or decorative art glass products for a minimum of four (4) years and whose general reputation for integrity, financial responsibility, business practices and quality of craftsmanship has been appraised to be such as to reflect credit upon the Association."

There's plenty more there and in the Rules and Procedures to clarify for you the types of studios recognized by the SGAA, all of which can be read online at http://www.stainedglass.org/html/SGAAbylaws.htm and http://www.stainedglass.org/html/SGAArules.htm.