When a group of four entrepreneurs got together to form Artisan Stone Co. in Denver, CO, they decided that their initial investments would place an emphasis on people rather than machinery. Now in its second year of operation, a solid business plan and a team of skilled stoneworking professionals has afforded the company steady growth in the marketplace.

Artisan Stone Co. is owned by Andrew Lunsford, Walt Lunsford, Sam Stover and Bill Gray, and one of their first moves was to hire an experienced production manager, Sammy Pedroza, and sales manager, Chris Sullivan. The company works on natural stone as well as quartz surfaces such as Caesarstone and DuPont Zodiaq, and it sells to clients in the greater Denver area and beyond. “We started with a couple of kitchens per week and grew from there,” Andrew Lunsford said. The company's current production rate is 1,300 square feet of finished material per week, and projects are a mix of “production work” and high-end custom projects (including one job that was featured in the “Parade of Homes”).

Kitchen sizes range from 60 to 120 square feet, and the company's ownership expects overall sales to reach $5 million in 2006. “We sell to some production builders, some kitchen and bath dealers and some retail,” Andrew Lunsford said. “We don't have billboards looking for homeowners, but our showroom is well situated,” Lunsford said, referring to Artisan Stone's new customer-friendly showroom on South Jason Street in Denver, which is well known for housing a variety of designer outlets.

Equipment in the shop includes a Cougar bridge saw from Park Industries as well as a Sector portable router from Ghines of Italy. Polishing pads and tooling come from Hard Rock Tool's Denver, CO, branch. “We have a great relationship with Hard Rock Tool,” Andrew Lunsford said. Stone is finished dry as well as wet, and a Donaldson Torit dust collection unit is used when dry processing.

But in addition to the equipment and tooling, the critical aspect of the production process for Artisan Stone Co. is the skill of its workers. All of the workers were trained by Pedroza, who has experience in automated shops as well as operations that emphasize hand work. “We try to do what the [automated] machines can do, and also what they can't do,” said Andrew Lunsford, adding that the company has become somewhat of a specialist in producing unique shapes and edge details, including laminated edges up to 6 cm thick.

There are seven workers in the shop, and in addition to offering thorough training, Pedroza said it is important to keep the staff motivated. “All of the workers have their own locker and uniform, and we have showers for the crew,” he said. “We want people to take pride in themselves, and to keep people happy and working as a team.”

Artisan Stone Co. has 30 employees in all, including installation teams, templaters and sales/administrative staff. As it continues to grow, Artisan Stone Co.'s ownership remains practical about future investment. “Growth has driven our business since day one, but we want to walk a line of growing without overgrowing,” Andrew Lunsford said. Rather, the company's emphasis remains on details such as completing work on time and meeting customer expectations. “We're not chasing the cheapest price,” Gray said. As part of this quality-control process, all customers go to local slab distributors with their salesman, so they can explain the details of each stone material.

As Artisan Stone Co. continues to grow, future machinery investments may include a CNC saw, but not necessarily automated edging equipment. “Our clientele for custom work seems to really like the hand finish,” Stover said.

Artisan Stone Co.

Denver, CO

Type of work: custom kitchen countertops and production work

Machinery: Cougar bridge saw from Park Industries of St. Cloud, MN; Sector portable router from Ghines of Italy; Dust collection unit from Donaldson Torit of Minneapolis, MN; polishing pads and tooling from Hard Rock Tool of Denver, CO

Number of Employees: 30 (seven in the shop)

Production Rate: 1,300 square feet of finished material per week