It s all about providing services and products that are helpful to our customers beyond just a rock, he said. That means a new focus on brains over brawn and a plan to offer more Internet-based services. It s a far cry from his grandfather s business, when quarried rocks were carried away on a mule-drawn cart and crushed by steam driven equipment. But Luck says the company was one of the first to convert its crushing operations to electricity decades ago. We ve tried to be a leading company in the use of technology, he said.
Luck also wants to carry on the company s tradition of community service.
Always a supporter of schools and local fire and rescue squads, Luck Stone recently launched its most ambitious public service project yet. When Gov. Jim Gilmore challenged industries and businesses around the state to get involved in helping public school students pass the Standards of Learning tests, Luck Stone sent employees across the state to dig up thousands of rocks of all varieties. Working with the Department of Education, they put together rock kits, boxes with samples of different types of rocks, a CD-ROM and a teacher instruction manual. This is the biggest thing we ve ever done from a community involvement standpoint. It s been a two-year effort, Luck said.