Vegas Rock: Natural In The Desert

Because of the close proximity of the quarry to the factory, the company ensures a reliable and timely delivery of the finished product.

“We’ve been taking on a lot of block orders for other projects, but we expect to start cutting more raw material blocks with our Thibauts, so production will be going up, as the market dictates,” says Rhoades. “If we can supply the saw with enough good, fracture-free material, it has the capability of cutting upwards of 30,000 ft² a month.

Click photo to enlarge“We are a specialty stone facility,” he emphasizes.

Amazingly, the company has grown to its present size – including 40 employees – without any major marketing effort.

“We have a Website,” he says. “Other than that, it’s all basically through word-of-mouth from our current customers. We have some fabricators in Phoenix and California, and there are architects and designers who know our stone.”

Anticipating further growth, Rhoades says the company is already thinking about adding more equipment, although at present there is no timetable for making the move.

“We have a lot of reserves and room for expansion,” he says. “Right now, we’re outsourcing our floor-tile production, and how well they can keep up with the demand will dictate the timeframe for getting more equipment.”

While agreeing that keeping quarry production at levels to supply all Las Vegas Rock’s product needs is a real balancing act, Rhoades says he sees the company focusing in coming months on getting its slab production up, and boosting some of its other products, including its ashlar material and tumbled pavers, as well as its bagged crushed-stone products.

“If we can get our stone in front of more architects and designers, that’s where we want to be,” he concludes. “We see our stone as being for higher-end projects because it is one-of-a-kind. Rather than being a high production operation, we want to be an exclusive in designer homes and projects. That’s our real goal. Our stone has been and is being specified as ‘Rock Art.’”

Original publication ©2006 Western Business Media Inc. Use licensed to the author.

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