J.P. Holcomb has a job many would envy. “When people ask me what I do,” he says with a smile, “I tell them I break rocks for a living.” J.P. is the engineer in charge of controlled blasting at Graniterock’s A.R. Wilson Quarry and oversees weekly charges which loosen rock from the quarry face.
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I know a construction foreman who freely shares that contractors are not “411 kind of guys.”  Construction is much more about doing than about talking about doing.  The downside of this ethic is that lack of communication breeds disputes on jobs. 
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In today’s construction environment, “green” building choices which are cost effective and long lasting are often a developer’s best option for building and pavement installation. Pervious concrete, permeable pavers and crushed top and bottom stone for synthetic athletic fields are all excellent selections for storm water management and drainage. 
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It’s hard to drive through Santa Cruz County and not see the effects of deferred maintenance on roads. Potholes, cracking, storm washouts and more are evident throughout. The County recently completed an analysis of our local roads to determine just how bad it is. On a scale of zero (a failed road) to 100 (new road) the average Pavement Condition Index (PCI) of Santa Cruz County roads is 55. This means that our roads are generally defined as being in “poor condition” by this measurement index. The deferred maintenance for Santa Cruz County roads is estimated to be approximately $180 million over the next five years. With state and federal funding for road repairs drastically cut over the last decade and local funding mechanisms unable to keep pace with the growing need (only 13 cents of our local property tax dollar comes back to Santa Cruz County) how do we address this problem?
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When Ken and Janice Rudisill started Harvest Construction 26 years ago, they drew from deeply shared values to form a long lasting and successful business venture. Harvest Construction is a general contractor which creates beautiful environments in Monterey County. This family business builds and remodels custom homes and commercial properties, primarily in Pebble Beach and Carmel, but also in residential areas such as Tehama and The Preserve.  
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 It was probably no great surprise to Chris Anderson’s family when he chose a career in construction. Construction is in the DNA of his family, which has deep roots in our region. Chris’s Norwegian great grandfather, Olaf Anderson, worked in the construction industry, and after World War II, his grandfather, Carl Ernie Anderson, started Anderson Ready Mix Concrete in Mountain View and in Sunnyvale. In the 1950s, Carl joined two partners to form CAP Concrete, which Graniterock eventually purchased for its current Redwood City concrete operations.
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Although Santa Cruz is famous for its beaches, one of the County’s most important stretches of sand lies inland in the Santa Cruz Mountains, in an area known as the Zayante sandhills. Tucked between the communities of Bonny Doon and Scotts Valley, the sandhills are isolated pockets of ancient sand that support an ecologically distinct assortment of plants and animals. Once covering about 6,365 acres, the sandhills are now restricted to less than 1,500, making it one of the rarest habitats in the state of California.
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The recent submittal of significant proposed revisions to California's mining law, the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act ("SMARA"), signals potentially broad-reaching changes to the statute.  On February 21, 2014, Senator Fran Pavely (D) introduced SB 1270, a bill proposing to overhaul various sections of SMARA.  SB 1270 proposes fundamental changes to SMARA. Click here for a copy of SB 1270.
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More than 25 years ago, former Graniterock CEO Bruce Woolpert introduced the idea of “Recognition Day” to Graniterock People. He brought the core of the idea from his experience as a manager at Hewlett-Packard, where legendary leaders Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard visited each HP Division once-a-year for a day-long “Division Review” to evaluate business performance.  Bruce modified the concept at Graniterock, and it became a key part of our Company Culture.
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Doug Sanders literally grew up with Graniterock concrete. His dad Larry, now retired, was a loyal Graniterock customer during his career as one of the largest concrete contractors in Santa Cruz County. Doug learned his trade next to his father, playing in sand piles on construction sites as a youngster. “Dad was always 100% Graniterock, I grew up with Graniterock and I can’t imagine getting my concrete anywhere else,” says Doug. “I’ve known these people all my life and they are like my family.”
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