For the past four years, Belgard has been gathering contractors and dealers from the Mid-Atlantic region to network, share knowledge and explore new Belgard products and innovations. Belgard University began as a way for our partners to learn about updates in the Belgard catalog and has grown into a platform for industry experts to teach and share emerging techniques and technologies for hardscapers.
2025: Anticipation and Adjustments
February 2025 was gearing up to be the largest Belgard University to date, with two days of installation courses, material updates, product demonstrations and several breakout session classes. Day one had two courses scheduled: an installer course in English covering the essentials for the design, construction and performance of segmental retaining walls, and an installer course in Spanish covering the procedures, standards and best practices for installing interlocking concrete paver systems.
The second day was the big event with multiple main-stage presentations and numerous breakout sessions. As the day approached with hundreds of registrations for the free event, the growing snowstorm approaching Virginia had different plans. For the safety of everyone traveling to Belgard University, we decided to postpone the second day to early March when the weather would be fairer. “I couldn’t be more proud of our team for rolling with the punches and making Belgard University a success despite the weather,” says Matt Kwarta, Vice President of Sales for the Mid-Atlantic Region, “and we appreciate everyone for being flexible and coming out at a later date.”
The Main Event
Despite needing a raincheck (snowcheck) for the second-day event, when March rolled around, industry experts, contractors and dealers gathered in Fredericksburg, Virginia for a day of hardscaping education, demonstrations and camaraderie.
“If you want to get into hardscapes, you have to get yourself educated,” says Donald Sherbeyn of Sherbeyn’s Landscape amongst the hustle and bustle of the event, “otherwise you’re going to make a lot of mistakes early on. If I could do it all again, I’d use Belgard’s resources and education from the start.”
The morning began with updates on Belgard products as Matt Kwarta and Cole Lineberry, Sales and Marketing for the Mid-Atlantic Region, took to the stage to present to an eager crowd. They covered new pavers, color schemes and the APG Awards Program.
The second hour featured Al Pfannenstein’s presentation, Segmented Retaining Wall Best Practices. Pfannenstein explored the planning and construction of SRW’s and fielded questions from the crowd to share his wealth of knowledge. He covered wall stability, rock filling, height considerations and issues you may encounter while diverting water. Meanwhile, the first breakout sessions began in the smaller classrooms. Belgard shared a class on estimating for jobs titled “Know Your Numbers” to help contractors project costs. In the classroom next door GreenSky taught attendees about Belgard’s financing options. The following classes were taught by Techniseal, who shared a master class on sand, cleaners and sealers, and brand strategy and design firm Release the Hounds, who helped attendees learn to scale their businesses with social media.
Back on the main stage, James Yates of ASA Outdoor Living gave a Cast Stone Wall demonstration. Yates focused on the natural aspects of the product, and ways to integrate walls into the surrounding landscape. He demonstrated methods for creating the most natural details in walls that you can by avoiding repeating patterns and chipping edges for best fits and laying corners.
After taking a break for lunch and raffles, Caleb Bahler of Pave Tool Innovations shared the company’s latest products and included demonstrations. He showed off their vacuum paver lifters and allowed attendees to test the machines to show how easy they make moving heavy pavers. They weren’t the only company sharing cutting-edge hardscaping technology at this year’s Belgard University. Biolift had a booth where attendees could test their contractor exoskeletons, a springloaded lumbar support system that helps the wearer lift heavy loads without wearing out their backs.
We are so thankful for everyone who came out and made Belgard University 2025 a huge success. Despite the curveball that the weather threw, our incredible team was able to pull off an amazing event, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for the burgeoning Mid-Atlantic hardscaping market.
