By Thomas A. Parmalee
Since the early days of America, the monument industry has been deeply visible but rarely understood.
Families encounter monument builders at moments of grief, and cemeteries depend on them to shape the physical landscape of remembrance. Yet outside the profession, few people grasp the technical skill, regulatory complexity, artistry and long-term stewardship involved in transforming raw stone into a permanent memorial.
That gap between perception and reality is exactly where the Monument Builders of North America has positioned itself.
Founded in 1906, the organization — still widely known throughout the profession by its longtime acronym, MBNA — represents monument retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers and suppliers across the United States and Canada. Its mission is ambitious but direct: to promote permanent memorialization while supporting the businesses and craftspeople who make it possible.
For cemeteries, funeral professionals, suppliers, memorialization companies and families, MBNA serves as a trade association, educational resource and connection point within a profession navigating rapid change.
MBNA members include monument retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers and suppliers across the United States and Canada. Many are independent, family-owned businesses with deep roots in the communities they serve. Their work is highly local, personal and relationship-based, often extending across generations of both business owners and the families they help.
“One of the best parts of my role is helping tell the stories of MBNA members and the meaningful work they do,” said Rachel Daeger, MBNA’s director of communications. “Monument builders help families tell deeply personal stories every day.”
That storytelling focus reflects the broader work of the monument profession. Monument builders help families create lasting memorials that reflect family history, faith, service, culture, personality and place. At the same time, they guide families through materials, design choices, cemetery requirements, installation considerations and long-term care.
MBNA’s role is to support those professionals with education, resources, advocacy and opportunities to learn from peers across North America.
“Our members are focused on serving families in their own communities,” Daeger said. “MBNA helps connect them with broader industry knowledge, resources and peer experience, so they can continue to adapt and better serve those families.”
The MBNA is focused on providing its members, the deathcare community and the public with education.
The MBNA is focused on providing its members and the public with education.
Navigating Consolidation and Tension
MBNA currently represents roughly 500 member companies in the United States of America and Canada, along with approximately 200 supplier members. Yet many of those businesses still operate under community-rooted identities tied to towns, counties, or regions rather than national brands.
At its peak, it had 1,246 members, according to its website, with its 1988 convention in Nashville drawing record attendance.
“There has been a lot of consolidation,” Daeger said. “We may have a company that is a member, but they may have as many as 10 branches with different locations in a state or geographic area.”
Similar to funeral service, when a monument company is acquired, it often retains its name since these businesses tend to be so focused on a particular community or area – and many times, the names of the companies themselves are geographic based.
The work members do hinges on creativity, she said. “I think the population at large agrees that everyone deserves permanent memorialization,” she said.
The organization has deliberately resisted embracing online marketplaces. Membership standards require retail members to maintain a physical storefront with monument displays on-site. Companies must provide evidence that they are actively engaged in the memorialization process itself — not simply acting as internet resellers.
That distinction matters to monument professionals who view memorialization as both craft and consultation.
“MBNA membership and leadership feels very strongly that it’s not enough to just sell a family something online and the relationship ends,” Daeger explained. “MBNA members are part of their communities.”
That intersection between cemeteries, monument builders and families is an important part of the memorialization process. In many communities, monument professionals serve as a resource for families as they navigate cemetery requirements, design options, materials, installation considerations and long-term memorial care.
“There are many examples of cemeteries and monument builders working well together, and those partnerships make a real difference for families,” said MBNA Board Member Brad Myers, CM, AICA, South Boston Memorials. “Like any relationship involving rules, property, installation and long-term care, communication is essential. The goal should always be to reduce confusion for families and help them create a lasting memorial with confidence.”
Part of that education begins before a memorial is designed. Cemetery requirements can vary by location, section and property type, and those requirements may affect monument size, material, style, placement, foundation specifications and installation.
“MBNA’s education efforts are focused on helping families ask the right questions early,” Daeger said. “Cemetery requirements can affect what is possible in a specific space, and monument builders can help families create meaningful memorials that honor their loved ones while meeting those guidelines.”
For families, the memorial process involves both immediate decisions and long-term considerations. Understanding cemetery requirements is one part of the process; understanding how a memorial will be installed, maintained and cared for over time is another.
“Families choose permanent memorials because they want a lasting place of remembrance,” Myers said. “That makes clear communication important from the beginning. When families understand the cemetery’s requirements and work with a qualified monument professional, they are better positioned to make informed decisions and create a memorial that will serve their family well for generations.”
The MBNA strives to educate the public on these various issues and aims to help them decide who to work with in the first place.
“MBNA members adhere to a Code of Good Practice,” Daeger explained. “It is an extensive series of commitments that they agree to when working with families.”
Monument professionals from throughout the country attended the 2025 MBNA convention in Cleveland.
Focusing On Education
The various issues that monument builders have been forced to confront has pushed MBNA to double down on providing education – to its members and the public.
One of the organization’s largest recent initiatives has been the development of the Monument Builders Academy, an online training platform designed to address workforce development, onboarding, safety, production and design education.
The academy reflects a practical problem facing many monument companies: Most are too small to maintain formal in-house training systems.
“How do you bring someone on board and train them when you’re a small business?” Daeger said.
The new educational model includes structured online learning modules with testing components covering fundamentals, design, production, installation and other operational disciplines. Importantly, much of the material is being written by monument professionals themselves rather than outside consultants.
The shift also represents a modernization effort for the organization’s longstanding Certified Memorialist program, traditionally viewed as one of the profession’s most rigorous credentials. Historically, certification often appealed primarily to owners or senior leaders willing to undertake extensive independent study. MBNA is now evaluating how certification can evolve into a broader workforce development system more accessible to younger professionals entering the trade.
And younger professionals are entering.
Unlike some skilled trades facing severe succession crises, the monument profession appears to retain a surprising level of generational continuity. Many businesses still grow their next generation internally through family succession.
“They feel called into the profession,” Daeger said.
She sees many of these younger members at its annual trade show. In odd-numbered years, MBNA hosts the continent’s largest full display monument show, where attendees can see the latest monument artistry from around the world. In even number years, a smaller, more educationally focused show is conducted where vendors showcase their offerings through tabletop displays.
The MBNA also regularly teams up with other local, state and regional monument associations in an effort to support each other, she said. You can see a full list of events it holds or teams up with others on here.
Technology Is Changing the Business
Across MBNA’s publications, podcasts, conventions and educational programs, conversations increasingly center on computer numerical control carving, AI-assisted design, advanced laser etching, typography innovation and digital modeling.
One of the most striking developments has been the growing sophistication of etched portraiture and memorial imagery, Daeger said. AI-enhanced photo preparation now allows monument artists to create laser etchings that approach photographic realism on granite surfaces.
At the same time, designers continue experimenting with new finishes, mixed materials, glass inserts, cremation-integrated monuments and hybrid memorial forms.
Cremation, unsurprisingly, sits at the center of many of those discussions.
Rather than eliminating memorialization, rising cremation rates have forced the monument industry to rethink how permanence is expressed.
MBNA members are increasingly designing monuments that discreetly incorporate cremated remains, creating family memorial spaces that combine traditional monument aesthetics with cremation functionality. New columbarium concepts, cremation benches and integrated memorial systems are becoming more common as families seek physical places for remembrance despite changing disposition preferences.
Understanding the Consumer
As memorialization continues to evolve, MBNA is interested in gathering more research and industry data to better understand what families need, value and choose when creating permanent memorials. Better information can help monument professionals, cemeteries and suppliers respond to changing family preferences while continuing to support meaningful, lasting remembrance. In recent years, the association launched a redesigned consumer-facing website, expanded its long-running MBNews publication and introduced the biweekly “Monument Matters” podcast.
The podcast, which releases a new episode every other Tuesday that is available to anyone, has become a particularly revealing window into the modern monument profession. Episodes explore everything from OSHA compliance and veterans memorial restoration to typography, AI tools, cremation trends, stone carving and cemetery preservation.
The subjects underscore a reality often overlooked by outsiders: monument building sits at the crossroads of manufacturing, design, public art, engineering, genealogy, grief support and cemetery operations.
For cemeteries, that intersection matters more than ever.
As memorialization evolves, cemetery operators and monument builders have an opportunity to work together in service of families. Decisions involving columbarium development, cremation placement, monument regulations, maintenance standards, digital memorialization and consumer education all affect how families create lasting places of remembrance. By including monument builders in these conversations, cemeteries can draw on their practical expertise in design, materials, installation and family guidance.
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