THREE COMPANIES SURVIVED AND THRIVED: Rock of Ages

Vermont Business Magazine, Mar 01, 2004 by Dube, Carolyn

In 1857, George Barron Milne, future president of Rock of Ages, was born in Aberdeen, Scotland. Aberdeen, a small granite quarrying town, was where Milne got his start as a granite cutter. By 1875 Milne was an apprentice making three dollars a month. And by 1880, Milne had saved enough money to make his way to the United States. In 1883, at the age of 26, Milne came to Vermont to help build Rock of Ages, a company with a reputation for excellence.

Rock of Ages, founded in 1885 and incorporated in 1904, is not only a granite quarrier, but also manufacturer and retailer primarily making granite memorials.

The company owns 10 quarry properties and five manufacturing and sawing facilities in North America, primarily in Vermont and the Province of Quebec. It distributes products through 110 company-owned retailers and 75 independent authorized Rock of Ages retailers.

According to Robert Campo, vice president of sales and marketing, Rock of Ages has one of the largest dimension stone quarries in the world.

Rock of Ages continues to be successful today. The company is publicly traded (NASDAQ- ROAC) and it has been since 1997. Kurt Swenson, CEO of Rock of Ages owns the majority of the company's stock.

The excellence in customer service, the attention to detail and the quality of the pieces the company produces continue to be of high importance to how Rock of Ages does business. Campo credits the company's success to the fact that they are a vertically integrated company.

"We do everything from the quarries, to manufacturing memorials, to the sales of our products," he, said. "We also export overseas. for projects other than memorials. We supply, for the building market as well."

In the past, the company would conform to the changes in the market, whereas today Rock of Ages sets the standard in the industry in regards to quality and craftsmanship. The granite used in each memorial is hand selected from the companies own granite quarries in order to ensure the quality of the finished product.

Today there are people who have traveled from other parts of the world and over 1,000 employees of multiple nationalities who work to make Rock of Ages the best it can be. They seek to take care of their customers, remain competitive in today's market and they do this through creating the best quality work they possibly can. It is the greatest compliment to the company to hear other companies are using Rock of Ages to measure the quality of their own work.

Rock of Ages makes memorials for many different reasons and, in regards to foreign competitors, having lower prices, Campo said they really push the quality and craftsmanship of their products.

"If we can't beat them on price, we can beat them on quality," he said.

In looking toward the future, Campo is confident in the company.

"We've changed a lot over the past 100 years and we are always looking forward," he said.

Campo expects to see more businesses go under in the next few years. But he feels Rock of Ages is in a good place. They are currently manufacturing a World War II memorial to be displayed in Washington DC.

"I like to say, 'You don't put up a memorial because someone died, but you put up a memorial because someone lived,'" said Campo.