A unit of North Carolina Granite Corp. that has produced material for some of America’s most-iconic monuments has found itself on the chopping block.
“They’re closing the Cut Stone Division,” according to an inside source who spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity, and provided confirmation of reports swirling around the community of a shakeup at the local quarrying operation at Flat Rock.
“It’s not a rumor,” that person added, with the slashing of the division to be accompanied by about 30 people losing their jobs out of a total workforce of around 60.
North Carolina Granite did have around 80 employees before an earlier workforce reduction.
The latest shakeup will become effective on Sept. 27, according to the source.
High-profile projects
The Cut Stone Division is credited with supplying Mount Airy’s legendary white granite — and giving it the Granite City nickname along the way — for some of the company’s biggest projects.
This includes the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, for which the coveted material was mined at the local quarry complex that was organized in May of 1889.
Additional high-profile projects it has supplied include the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the Arlington Memorial Bridge, among others.
Operations maintained
The good news is that North Carolina Granite Corp. will maintain about 30 employees in other operations, multiple sources say.
“It’s our understanding the curbing department is sticking around,” Blake Moyer of the Surry County Economic Development Partnership said Tuesday in discussing the phaseout at North Carolina Granite Corp.
Curbing is said to be an in-demand product due to road and street construction thriving nationwide, with the company also reportedly planning to continue selling gravel.
Moyer, the president and CEO of the Surry Economic Development Partnership, was still trying to sort out the implications of the move Tuesday along with other local officials including Mount Airy Mayor Jon Cawley.
“We haven’t got to speak with their management team yet,” Moyer said of the company.
A call to North Carolina Granite Corp. was referred to Jonathan Strickland, listed as its plant manager, who was out of his office and did not immediately respond to a voice-mail message seeking information.
In commenting on the division phaseout, Moyer said it could be indicative of the kinds of consolidations and shifts of operations that occur among larger corporations.
After more than 130 years of local ownership, North Carolina Granite — one of Mount Airy’s oldest and most well-known businesses — changed hands with its acquisition by the Canadian firm Polycor Inc. in 2020.
At that time, Polycor was reported to own more than 50 quarries and 20 manufacturing facilities throughout North America and Europe, employing about 1,100 people companywide.
Moyer said the economic-development group has been in contact with the NCWorks Career Center of Surry County in an effort to help the displaced granite workers find new jobs.
Meanwhile, Mayor Cawley and City Manager Darren Lewis also had received no official word from the company as of Tuesday about the phaseout of the Cut Stone Division.
“One of the things on my list today was to see if there was any evidence of that,” said Cawley, who saw a Facebook posting regarding it during the weekend.
Positive outlook earlier
During an October 2022 presentation to the Rotary Club of Mount Airy, Denis Deshales, a Canadian who was serving as site manager of the local quarry complex, predicted growth for the operation.
“We’re well-positioned to go toward the future,” Deshales said.
“At this time, the market (for) the granite, it’s very good,” he said of the distinctive white variety quarried here.
There was a big demand for it in urban landscaping, including curbs for streets, Deshales told Rotary members.
He mentioned that one of the company’s biggest problems was finding sufficient personnel.
At that time, the local operation had 75 to 100 workers on site, and the Polycor official was hoping that figure would surpass 125 employees.
Deshales said there were job openings then at the quarry, where the pay level had been increased within the past year to ensure sufficient workers for all facets of the business.
The company official also reported a healthy supply of raw material at the site known as the largest open-faced granite quarry in the world.
“We think we have more than one hundred years of granite (left),” Deshales advised.
“Don’t worry about that.”
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