Graniterock

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Granite Rock Company
Type Private
Industry Construction
Founded 1900
Headquarters Watsonville, California
Key people Tom Squeri, President & CEO
Employees 650
Website www.graniterock.com

Graniterock is a 113-year old American corporation based in Watsonville, California. It operates in the construction industry providing crushed gravel, sand, concrete and asphalt. The company won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 1992 and has been named one of Fortune Magazine's Best 100 Companies to Work For.

History

Beginnings

Granite Rock Company was founded on February 14, 1900 by Arthur Roberts (A.R.) Wilson and Warren R. Porter. Wilson was born in San Francisco in 1866, graduated from MIT with the class of 1890, and returned to California where he partnered with Kimball G. Easton in a Bay Area street paving and construction firm known as Easton and Wilson. Easton's brother-in-law, Warren Porter, was a well connected Santa Cruz County banker, lumberman, and politician.[1]
Arthur Roberts (A.R.) Wilson,circa 1920

The tiny granite quarry east of Watsonville had been supplying rock for construction of the Southern Pacific Railroad for several years before it was acquired by Porter's bank in 1899.[2] Porter and Wilson saw its possibilities, found some additional investors, and started up the business with Wilson as Superintendent. In the beginning, quarry operations were tough; fifteen men used sledgehammers, picks, shovels and wheelbarrows to break and load broken rock onto horse-drawn wagons for the trip to the railroad line. Relief came in 1903 when the quarry was automated with a steam powered №3 McCully crusher. It produced 20 tons of 2½-inch rock per hour. By 1904, rock was transported from the quarry face to the crushing plant in horse-drawn, side-dump rail cars, which were still loaded by hand. There were about 24 men working at the quarry.[3]

The 1906 San Francisco earthquake flattened the new steam crushing plant and temporarily halted operations. Train rails were twisted, rail cars overturned, and the quarry operation was devastated. Fortunately, the earthquake's destruction created a new demand for construction. In the years that followed, Granite Rock Company supplied materials for a number of important buildings in San Francisco and around the Monterey Bay area. Among those still standing are the old Gilroy City Hall and the old San Francisco Wells Fargo Building.

As automobiles began to replace the horse and buggy, street paving became a necessity. Granite Rock Company received its first contract for placement of water-bond macadam on Lake Avenue in Watsonville, from Walker Street to the northeast city limits. The total contract, including grading and gutters, amounted to $18,000. In 1915, the California State Legislature passed the "Get Out of the Mud Act", a bill encouraging the modernization of streets. Over the next few years, the streets of Santa Cruz and Salinas were paved with Granite Rock Company concrete.

World War I caused freight costs to skyrocket, and as a result, local plants were developed so that rock could be sold in small truck lots. Granite Rock Company built bunkers along the railroad from South San Francisco to San Luis Obispo to supply local construction businesses. Construction was booming throughout California, and the Company was expanding with the state's growing needs. In 1916, a railroad was built to Southern California’s Doheny oil fields, and men and machinery went as far south as Santa Maria to do the work. In 1918, Granite Rock Company built the highway connecting Castroville with Moss Landing. Among the builders was author John Steinbeck.

At the Aromas quarry, expansion was taking place as well. In 1909, a Marion steam shovel was purchased to further mechanize operations, and in 1911, a Porter steam locomotive replaced horse-drawn carts to haul broken rock from the quarry face to the steam crusher. At San Francisco's Panama Pacific Exhibition in 1915, Granite Rock Company won the Gold Ribbon for excellence in crushed rock.

Changes

In 1922, the first of a number of important business changes took place. Warren Porter had suffered financial losses in a speculative venture with the Java Coconut Oil Company, which took over his interest in the company. A.R. Wilson later purchased this stock, and became majority shareholder and president. Also that year, Wilson started Granite Construction Company as a separate entity and became its first president. In 1924, Wilson started Central Supply Company, which distributed building materials. Granite Rock Company remained the producer of rock and sand products for construction projects and materials sales.

Just before the Stock Market Crash of 1929, A.R. Wilson died from a sudden heart attack. His wife Anna assumed presidency of the company and his son Jeff took over as General Manager.

The Great Depression took a heavy toll on American business, and Granite Rock Company was no exception. Work was so scarce at the quarry that a whistle was blown to call men in when as little as one car of rock was ordered. The Board of Directors had to ask permission from the Federal Reserve Bank in order to give Christmas bonuses. Unable to offer regular employment, the company made interest free loans to employees to cover medical bills. Struggling to keep its three companies afloat, the Wilson family sold its interest in Granite Construction Company to Walter Wilkinson and Bert Scott in 1936. South San Francisco, San Jose and San Luis Obispo branches of Central Supply Company were also sold.

Progress

In the 1930s, the Company opened California’s first asphaltic concrete plant in Aromas and also began California’s first delivery of pre-mixed concrete in tiny dump trucks. This concrete was used in such projects as the WPA's construction of the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. World War II brought new activity, as materials were needed to build Fort Ord, Camp McQuaide and the Navy airstrip in Watsonville. Many men were away serving in the armed forces, so women and workers from Jamaica took over operations. A new plant was built at Asilomar in Pacific Grove, and excavation of the mining face at the Aromas quarry brought it down 100 feet, now level with the train tracks. A new primary crushing plant was built at the lower level and opened in 1946.[4]

By the early 1950s, Jeff Wilson had left Graniterock and Anna Wilson had retired. Her daughter, Mary Elizabeth Wilson Woolpert, took over as president. Again, it was a time for growth. Wet processing and loading plants were built at Aromas, and new plants were acquired at Salinas, Felton, Santa Cruz and Los Gatos. The Company purchased its first fleet of transit mixer trucks from Ford Motor Company in Salinas. With two young children at home, Betsy Woolpert turned the Company presidency over to her husband, Bruce G. Woolpert.

Modernization

During the 1960s and 1970s, there was tremendous development of the Monterey Bay and San Francisco Bay areas. Central Supply and Granite Rock Company merged to form one company, Graniterock, for construction materials production and sales, and expansion took place in sand, concrete, asphaltic concrete and building materials operations. New plants were opened in San Jose, Redwood City, Santa Cruz, Gilroy, Hollister, Salinas and Seaside. In step with the times, Graniterock installed its first computer—an IBM System 3.

In the 1980s, the Company undertook a major investment to modernize the outdated Logan Quarry. A giant mobile primary crusher was designed and built—the world's largest of its kind conveyors were installed to carry rock from the primary crusher to a new wash plant and secondary crushers.[5] A state-of-the-art, computer-controlled automated truck and rail car loading system was unveiled. All were designed to move the newly named A.R. Wilson Quarry into the 21st century.[6]

The Pavex Construction Division, formed in 1989, was now providing high quality road and highway construction and had become one of California's premier heavy engineering contractors. A new road materials plant in South San Francisco, concrete operations in Redwood City, Southside Sand and Gravel in Hollister, two new sand plants in Santa Cruz County and recycling centers in San Jose and Redwood City were added to the Graniterock family.

Quality by Design

In 1992, Graniterock won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the Nation's highest honor for business. The company was named one of the country’s 100 Best Places to Work by Fortune Magazine.These awards recognized the company's fresh focus on meeting customer needs by providing precise, fast and flexible service. Attention to personal development and empowerment of Graniterock People also improved quality and customer assistance. Commitment to community service, always a company priority, was expressed in new ways, such as “Pops and Rocks” concerts to benefit the United Way, and efforts to share quality practices with the public schools of Santa Cruz County. Annual United Way contributions also became a major source of funds for charitable organizations.

A New Millennium

On February 14, 2000, A.R. Wilson’s grandson, Bruce Wilson Woolpert, welcomed Graniterock employees, customers, and friends to a gala 100th anniversary celebration.[7] New corporate offices were opened in Watsonville in 2002, and company sites were added in Oakland, Cupertino, and Milpitas. A Graniterock website brought information to a new world of customers, and technical innovations were applied in ever more creative ways. An array of ground-breaking systems was developed to advance productivity and customer service. A cutting edge automated truck loading system eliminated customer wait time and provided customers with up to the minute quantity and productivity reports at quarry and asphalt locations, and a unique sales and invoicing system consolidated invoices across product lines. Graniterock's environmental concern has earned the company awards for community stewardship, and leadership in Green Technology has helped solve customer problems in an environmentally friendly way.

Graniterock has attracted world wide attention with its unique approaches to solving customer problems and business management. For example, its Short Pay Policy states, "If you are not satisfied...don't pay us. We will contact you immediately to resolve the problem." Business textbooks and writers such as Jim Collins, Tom Peters and Nancy Austin have used the Company to illustrate best business management practices and Graniterock has received numerous awards for business excellence.

Products

Graniterock provides a wide range of construction aggregates, sand, decorative rock, concrete and building materials. It manufactures its own river rock and has a line of Wilson aggregates and sands.

Graniteseal is Graniterock's own sealcoat system based on the Carbonyte Process, which modifies molecular bonds to convert asphalt into a superior-performing thermoplastic.

Graniterock also offers a number of green, sustainable, recycled and environmentally acceptable products to its customers. Its green products include Pervious Concrete, Perco-Crete, High-Fly Ash Content Concrete, Interlocking Pavers, Recycled Baserock, aggregates such as sand, rock and gravel, concrete and asphalt products, parking bumpers, Turfstone, ECO-Block, and erosion control. Some of these products qualify for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) credits.

Publications

Woolpert, Rose Ann; Engine Number Ten – A Nearly True Tale; illustrations by Jaguar Design Studio.Yes We Will Books,2013. A worn quarry steam engine saves a diesel engine trapped in a rock slide. Spared from the scrap heap and restored, the diesel finds new work at the Railroad Museum in Sacramento. Audience: Ages 3-7. ISBN 978-1-939341-01-3; 32 full color pages, hardback. Retail Price: $17.99 www.enginenumberten.com


Wyatt, Kim; Rock Solid – The Graniterock Story; design by Mickey Cook. Yes We Will Books, 2000. Stories, photographs and historic documents from the first 100 years of business. ISBN 978-1-939341-00-6; 173 pages, hardback. Retail Price: $34.95

Awards

Here is a partial list of awards Graniterock has received in recent years:

2011

Transportation Excellence Award - Transportation Agency of Monterey County

Quality in Construction Award, Diamond Paving Commendation - National Asphalt Pavement Association

Economic Vitality Award - Monterey County Business Council

2010

Quality in Construction Award - National Asphalt Pavement Association

Airport Quality in Construction Award - National Asphalt Pavement Association

Outstanding Corporate Campaign Gold Level Award - United Way of Santa Cruz County

2009

Outstanding Corporate Campaign Gold Stewardship Award - United Way of Santa Cruz County

Workwell Fit Business Award - Council for a Healthier Monterey County

2008

Large Project of the Year - Monterey Bay Chapter of the APWA, (American Public Works Association)

2007

Valleywater “Sharing the Silver” Award - Santa Clara Valley Water District

Outstanding Corporate Campaign Gold Level Award - United Way of Santa Cruz County

2006

Clean Ocean Award — City of Santa Cruz

Manufacturing Business of the Year — San Benito County Chamber of Commerce

2005

Clean Ocean Award — City of Santa Cruz

Best Places to Work: #19 — National Society of Human Resources Management

2004

America’s Best Small and Medium Companies to Work for in America Great Places to Work Institute, Inc. — National Society of Human Resources Management

Quality In Construction Award — National Asphalt Pavement Association

2003

Web Site Award Winner — Pit & Quarry Magazine

Excellence in Leadership 2002–2003 Campaign — United Way of Santa Cruz County

Outstanding Corporate Campaign Gold Level 2002–2003 — United Way of Santa Cruz County

2002

Web Site Award Winner: Honorable Mention — Pit & Quarry Magazine

First Ever ‘New Millennium Award’ 2001–2002 — United Way of Santa Cruz County

Outstanding Corporate Campaign Gold Level 2001–2002 — United Way of Santa Cruz County

2001

“Rocky” Safety Award: A.R. Wilson Quarry — National Stone, Sand, and Gravel Association

100 Best Companies To Work For: #17 — Fortune Magazine

Business Excellence Award: Manufacturing/Distribution — Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce

2000

Business of the Millennium — San Benito County Chamber of Commerce

2000 Diamond Achievement Commendation for Excellence in Hot Mix Asphalt Plant/Site Operations — National Asphalt Pavement Association

100 Best Companies To Work For: #19 — Fortune Magazine

Producer of the Year — 2000 Pit & Quarry Magazine

Further reading

Anderson, Eric R., "A Tale of Two Companies," Business Credit, September 1993, p. 22.

Austin, Nancy K., "Where Employee Training Works," Working Woman, May 1993, p. 23.

Austin, Nancy K., "Rock Through the Ages", Inc., State of Small Business, 2000

Barrier, Michael, "Learning the Meaning of Measurement," Nation's Business, June 1994, p. 72.

Case, John, "The Change Masters," Inc., March 1992, p. 58.

"Granite Rock Co.," Business America, November 2, 1992, p. 15.

Grossman, Robert J.; “A Tale of Two (Unionized) Companies”, HR Magazine, September 2005, p. 70

Pomeroy, Ann; “50 Best Small & Medium Places to Work”, HR Magazine, July 2006, p. 2

"This is How It's Done: Smart Business Moves", Inc., April 2009

Triplett, Tim, "Satisfaction Is Nothing They Take for Granite," Marketing News, May 9, 1994, p. 6.

Welles, Edward O., "How're We Doing? Granite Rock Co.'s Annual Report Card from Customers, and What's Done with the Grades," Inc., May 1991, p. 80.

References

  1. ↑ History of Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties, California, S.J. Clarke Publishing,(1925)
  2. ↑ Report of the State Mineralogist, 1889-1890, State of California, p.26
  3. ↑ Wyatt, Kim,Rock Solid - The Granite Rock Story (2000)
  4. ↑ Fowle, Royal E., “Open New Plant at the Lower Quarry Level”, Rock Products, April/July (1947)
  5. ↑ Elson, William I., “Granite Rock Company’s Mobile Crusher and ARC Conveyor”, Stone Review, December (1986)
  6. ↑ “Granite Rock Dedicates Modernized Quarry Near Watsonville”, California Mining, February, (1989)
  7. ↑ “Graniterock’s Century of Progress”, Rock Products, April (2000)
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