Press Release
June 26, 2006

Graniterock’s Commitment to Self-Led Workforce

Local Firm Makes List for Ninth Year

In 1998, when Graniterock’s name first appeared on Fortune magazine’s ranking of the “100 Best Companies to Work for in America,” the Company was thrilled that its workplace practices had placed it among such leaders as Marriott Hotels, Microsoft, J. M. Smucker, and Nordstrom. Graniterock is only one of thirty-seven companies to have appeared on that initial 1998 list that remains on the “Best Companies” ranking today—nine years later.

The announcement was made this morning at the Society for Human Resource Management Conference in Washington DC that Graniterock had again been selected for national recognition, making the list of “Best Workplaces” at #20. There are 750 Graniterock Team Members working in heavy engineering construction, construction materials production including mining, and in manufacturing plants producing ready-mix concrete and hot mix asphalt, as well as operating retail landscaping supply stores.

Graniterock Team Members say they like the Company’s self-leadership approach in which each individual owns responsibility for deciding how to perform each job with a commitment to safety, quality and customer satisfaction, along with responsibility to make decisions about how the work should be changed or improved over the short- and long-term. No manager looks over someone’s shoulder to tell him or her how to perform or improve work. Training and career growth are also important to Graniterock Team Members. Although voluntary, 92% of Graniterock Team Members direct their own training programs, advancing skills in areas such as computers, materials science, and marketing. A number of Team Members are participating in Graniterock’s English as a second language (ESL) or Spanish language classes. Some have overcome reading and writing disabilities and improved basic math skills. Career advancement is supported by the Try-a-Job Program in which Team Members can try a new job for a day with pay to evaluate career growth interests. If they do, the training program, called Individual Professional Development Plan, provides the knowledge and skills to prepare for career change and advancement success.

Surveys conducted by Graniterock, as well as national surveys conducted by others, have shown that skill investment and development are very important to Americans, particularly those now entering the workforce. Graniterock Team Members say that what they like best about the Company is its family environment. People look forward to coming to work and seeing friends, and when someone faces an emergency or crisis outside work, Team Members pull together providing needed help along with the Company. It’s a good family setting because people grow together and then support each other whenever life’s challenges occur.

The “Best Places to Work in America” listings are developed each year by the Great Places to Work Institute in San Francisco. The Institute produces three listings based on company size. Graniterock appears on the list of companies with 251–999 employees, the Institute calls the “Best Medium Companies to Work for in America.” The Institute analyzed anonymous survey responses from Graniterock People, compared survey results with other leading firms, and then reviewed the Company’s human resource practices in order to develop the final ranking.

Graniterock was founded on Valentine’s Day, 1900, when its first operation, the A.R. Wilson Quarry, was opened in Aromas and soon became a heavy engineering contractor. Its California Contractor’s License—#22—demonstrates how long the Company has been in the construction business. Graniterock has a new Design Center™ location in Cupertino on De Anza Boulevard supplying construction building and landscaping materials. There are already plant or branch locations in Aromas, Felton, Hollister, Monterey Peninsula, Oakland, Redwood City, Salinas, Santa Cruz, San Jose, and So. San Francisco. Graniterock’s Pavex Construction Division operates from area offices in Redwood City, San Jose, Oakland, and Watsonville, and performs large work such as highway or runway expansion projects, as well as commercial and residential projects. The Company’s Corporate Offices have been located in Watsonville since 1900.

Editor’s Note: Graniterock can send you high-quality photograph(s) in JPG format of the Graniterock Workplace, including some photos of the individuals performing work in various work settings. If you would like those e-mailed to you, contact Keith Severson at 831.768.2063 or e-mail[email protected].