Delaware Quarries, Inc. works to continually diversify its product range
Delaware Quarries, Inc. is a company rich in history. Headquartered in New Hope, PA, the stone producer maintains seven locations along the East Coast. The company not only owns four active quarries, it also has agreements with other stone producers to quarry at their sites. As a result, Delaware Quarries is able to offer an extensive selection of building and landscape stone to customers nationwide. The Building Stone Institute (BSI) once recognized the company as “America’s largest stone supplier.”
In addition to the four active quarries owned by Delaware Quarries, Inc., the company also has three distribution centers, according to Kristin Hollander, sales and marketing coordinator for Delaware Quarries, Inc. Hollander explained that the majority of the company’s facilities are in Florida and Pennsylvania. “Our first quarry opened in 1946,” she said. “It had been a quarry since 1795 — one of the oldest quarries in the country. It is located in Lumberville, PA, and was opened by Lt. Colonel Joseph Busik after he was in World War II. He and his wife started running the quarry together.”
The site in Lumberville sits on the banks of the Delaware River. In the beginning, Busik would cut stone early in the day, and then at night he would head out to sell the stone that he had just produced. Among his first customers was Princeton University. Delaware Quarries, Inc. supplied all of the argillite and sandstone veneers on the school’s buildings that were constructed after World War II, and Princeton University continues to buy stone veneer and flagstone from the company today.
Presently, Delaware Quarries, Inc. is owned by Busik’s son, J. Kevan Busik. At the age of 11, Kevan Busik had already begun helping his father in the quarry, and after graduating college in 1972 became a full-time staff member. Both father and son were very involved with the BSI. Kevan Busik was elected president of the organization at its 2000 annual convention. A few years later, at the 84th annual BSI convention, he was named “Man of the Year.” Kevan and Joe Busik are the only father and son past presidents that were both elected Man of the Year.
Serving its customers
Because of its numerous quarries, Delaware Quarries, Inc. is able to provide customized orders to meet anyone’s needs. The quarries are opened year-round, and the company caters to builders, homeowners, contractors, stone masons, landscapers, garden centers, landscape architects and architects.
“We produce sandstone, Bluestone, River Jacks, quartzite, Terrascape, fieldstone, slate and Brownstone,” said Hollander. “They are all available in various colors, cuts, sizes and finishes.”
Large excavators are used to extract blocks from the quarries, and the majority of equipment is Komatsu. According to Hollander, quarry blocks are produced at the Lumberville location, and they can range anywhere from three to 20 tons.
With the intention of offering a diverse selection of products, Delaware Quarries, Inc. produces gravel, wall stone, thick and thin veneer, flagstone, boulders, cobbles, mantels, sawn steps, slabs, pavers, treads, sills, columns, pool coping and caps. The company has supplied stone for 200,000-square-foot institutional jobs, as well as stone for small fireplaces, all over the world.
To further broaden its services, Delaware Quarries, Inc. recently purchased a stone fabrication business, AXIS Dimensional Stone, LLC, in North Carolina. Additionally, the company launched a program called “Delaware Quarries University,” which was implemented to train its employees in all aspects of building stone — from the quarrying and processing to the sale and installation of the material. The goal is for the company to have the best employees in the stone industry that can serve its customers well.
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