Summit Stone Works Inc.
“I’m on the board of directors for the building association, so people know me that way,” he says. “The organization does a Mountain Home & Outdoor Expo every summer, and that’s one of our major advertising venues. And, I spend time meeting with designers and builders in the county.”
Monroe also participates in the association’s annual Parade of Homes.
Click photo to enlarge“Last year there were 23 homes, and we don’t try to be in every one; I like to take care of my contractors,” he says. “During the two weeks of the viewings, Chad and I will go into these homes and sit with our granite and talk to the people who come through.”
Monroe admits to having to work a little harder to keep jobs coming through the door. While three or four years ago most of his work was in new construction, today it’s trending mostly to the remodeling side. Even the rich aren’t building many multi-million-dollar getaway homes these days.
“Part of my reasoning behind living in Summit County is that there are a lot of very well-to-do people with second homes who will never run out of money,” he says. “If they do scale back, they’re going to get out of their 6,000 ft² home and move into a 2,000 ft² condo – that will have to be remodeled.”
Still, he adds, another remodel market that’s proving resilient is the lower-priced rental condos.
“There are about 200,000 rental units in the county, and most of them don’t have slab granite in them,” he says. “But, owners are finding if you do have granite, you get the best rental return rate.”
However, Monroe isn’t waiting for the next building boom to add to his equipment mix. He’s currently shopping for a radial arm polisher – mainly to serve customers who want a leathered or honed finish on their slabs. And, looking ahead, he sees either a CNC or a waterjet in his future.
“When things were super busy, we couldn’t keep up with the demand,” Monroe says. “We didn’t want to lose any of our customers and we didn’t want to ou-source, but when we were booked for several weeks out, our contractors didn’t want to hear that either.”
The trick, he says, will be balancing out what a machine can turn out with his desire to maintain Summit Stone Works’ quality and reputation.
“Things are done by hand because it allows for individual touches the machines can’t do,” Monroe concludes. “Our business philosophy is that ‘Quality endures time.’ For that reason, we try to make the finished product something the customer will love forever.
“When we go out to a jobsite, I put my arm on my guys’ shoulders and say, ‘These are the gentlemen who will be doing your kitchen.’ Customers know our names, and when they see us inside the grocery store, everybody shakes hands and smiles. That’s the type of business I wanted to have.”