Victor DeOliveira, President & CEO of Discover Marble & Granite in Millbury, MA, and Fort Myers, FL, was an airplane pilot before he decided to go into the fabrication business four years ago, and he hasn't looked back since. At the present time, his two locations employ a total of 65 people, and a third operation will be opening soon.

Working with his wife, Cristina, DeOliveira runs the business from a 20,000-square-foot office/showroom in Millbury, and the second location is a 12,000-square-foot office/showroom in Fort Myers. “As a former Pilot, I am used to covering a lot of territory,” DeOliveira said when asked about the distances covered. “It was easier than you might expect, mainly because it is a large family operation, and we have many years of combined experience in the fabrication business. Both locations have grown by leaps and bounds, and we have been very fortunate to have found many, many talented people to make it a tremendously successful enterprise.”

“Our business mix is approximately 80% residential, 20% commercial,” DeOliveira continued. “Our business is mainly 'word of mouth' from large residential builders and designers. We also handle the large 'box' stores like Lowe's, where we average 14 kitchens a day. Our stock contains more than 1,500 slabs in natural marble and granite as well as a large selection of engineered stone by Cambria.”

Between the locations, Discover Marble & Granite covers a broad territory. “On the East Coast, we cover an area from Southern New Hampshire and Vermont to Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts,” DeOliveira said. “And in Florida, we cover from Naples to Tampa. We run our business with a military precision in order to maintain our stringent policy of always being on time with the finest quality.”

In choosing equipment, DeOliveira said that durability was a key consideration. “Our stonecutting demands are huge; if we had a breakdown it would put us out of business,” he said. “We run three Matrix Sebring Gantry Saws virtually around the clock. As for the question of staffing our new offices, we have plenty more talented people in the family.”

Look for a full-length feature on Discover Marble & Granite in a future issue of Stone World.