Innovation

According to the website, Luck Stone, which is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is one of the largest family-owned businesses producing crushed stone, sand, and gravel in the nation. Founded by Charles S. Luck Jr. in 1923, the company has thrived under the leadership of three generations of the Luck family.

Matt, an Innovation Partner at Luck Stone, believes that Luck Stone operates as a new business model of leadership and community development coupled with innovative experimentation within the mining sector to better the world, its people, communities and the environment. Beth, an Innovation Partner, stated that “Part of the DNA is to push it, to push the envelope to try things and let things evolve a little bit.” The business model is based upon values-driven leadership and the company shares this model with the world. The values of Luck Stone are Creativity, Leadership, Commitment and Integrity. Luck Stone has developed a non-profit called Innerwill to develop leaders who are brave and who are better. The mining innovations include product development and environmental stewardship. Products are designed to enhance ecosystems, water quality and community function. Products include improving ecosystems through streambed restoration, stormwater biofiltration, organic plant growth, shoreline protection, sports field optimization, etc. Luck Stone innovations are grounded in purpose; they relate to the mission of the company. According to Billy (Vice President of Customer Experience and Emerging Businesses), “Our first thought is not about how much money we will make, it is more about what is the purpose and why are we doing it, and does it serve some bigger purpose? We are a for-profit business but we look at it through that lens of purpose.”

Inspiration

Luck Stone is a mining company with quarries across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Each generation of the Luck Family owners has had a focus. Charlie III focused on innovative techniques for mining that improved safety, sustainability and efficiency. Charlie IV, the current owner, focuses on people, employees, their families and customers as well as industry innovations. Beth shared that Luck Stone is customer inspired and customer led. Billy continued: “The owner, Charlie, has so much passion, because he wants to make a difference in the world.” They are looking to the future to become thought leaders; to scale their business to the future to build a better world, interpersonally and environmentally.

Overall impact

• Responsible consumption and production patterns
• Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development
• Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Business benefit

Luck Stone’s values-based model leads to business benefits. 91% of employees report being engaged. Research indicates that engaged employees perform at high levels. Don, who is the Vice President of Information Technology, states, “Our engagement scores are off the chart.” This high percentage is an outlier in the working world. Don continued that, “We pull people in hard hats out of the mine and they talk about their behavioral styles. We want to share what we know. Charlie challenged us to share it with the world. We are getting outside validation, with groups coming in to see what we are doing. The innovative piece is that we now have stood up where we have Innerwill to help other organizations start their journey. There are a lot of people doing leadership development, we do not have the answer, we have an answer we would like to share what has worked for us.” Billy commented, “Our mission, our analogy, in life is doing good to do well. Most companies want to do well first from a financial aspect. And then they will do good in the world and community. We flip that model within our people and our organization. We do good, and the outcomes will do well. Doing good is not just about our associates, it is about our families, our communities. It is what we do. And then with that we feel that we will do well as an organization and benefit from that. So many companies do it the other way." Beth shared, “We are transparent with the quality information we share. Our customers wanted to do their jobs better, and we wanted to share our technology and what we have learned.”

Luck Stone is using innovative practices such as drones to increase employee safety and efficiencies. They have provided iPads (and pay for the data plans) to haulers (who are not Luck Stone associates) to become paperless. The haulers have become more effective, are hauling more, meeting the needs of customers and making money. Luck Stone has instituted a customer portal that is external (not internal which is common practice) to meet customer needs. Luck Stone is sought out nationally to share their innovations and practices related to the mining industry. Business is good. As shared by Billy, “We create the foundation of the building blocks that go into the quality of people's lives. When you think about the foundational building blocks, you are thinking about our products.”

Social and environmental benefit

Don, Billy, Beth, and Matt shared inspirational moments of how their work with Luck Stone has improved their personal lives and relationships. Billy recounted a conversation he had with his teenage daughter regarding her plans for her future. He shared how he asked open-ended questions to explore her passions and interests. He did not judge her and empowered her to become her best, following her lead. This was the most meaningful conversation he has had with her. Beth shared how what she learned at work helped her to become more courageous in a community organization that was isolating one member. Billy went on to state, “Rock is just an activity that brings us together, but really what we are about is making better human beings. Because every day we do tasks, we do jobs, but we do it with people. And so we aware of their awareness about the impact they have on the people they work with, their customers, communities, their churches. We are really good at doing what we do, it is the activity that brings us together but it is about how we interact and care for others.”

Luck Stone believes in igniting human potential and while doing so, the rock they mine is the building block of communities--making better roads, churches, schools, playgrounds, and hospitals. They touch it all. Luck Stone lives to improve the outdoor experience. They are building playing fields with lower environmental impact and higher safety for kids and adults. Don indicated that Luck Stone has a vision to scale up by working with school systems to start to develop self-awareness early--working with kids to learn their strengths, gifts, curiosity of others and how to adapt to situations. They also work with Virginia schools by providing Rock Kits to students. Billy stated, “People are extraordinary human beings, and unfortunately the world has often taught them their whole lives why they are not. That potential lies in each of us, part of what we are doing is helping people find their passion, their purpose and strengths and their dance floors. That part of leadership is igniting their potential and when I look to current state to future I have hope that we are a part of that.”

Luck Stone’s environmental goals are to: Increase Community Education and Outreach on Environmental Issues; Enhance Recycling Programs and Initiatives; Further Reduce Dust Emissions from Process Areas; and Improve Discharge Water Quality. Billy shared that in terms of sustainability, “We understand we have an impact and we have social license to operate, for whatever we do, we want to think about a wetland if we disturb it 2 to 1…whatever impact we have, we want to benefit it and double back, give it back to the environment twofold.”

Some of their practices include: engineering green science soils in conjunction with universities to support organic plants and naturally filter storm water; building sports skills playing surfaces; repurposing a quarry for a water reservoir for one growing county to store good water; working on the Chesapeake Bay bio-filtration system for storm water; creating products to help clean up the bay; using quarry by-products to build oyster reefs in the Bay and sturgeon (an endangered species) reefs in the James River; streambed restoration; and a floating barge classroom on the Elizabeth River focusing on water quality and wetlands. Billy shared, “Every day we wake up and know we have a positive impact.”

Service and product development branches include Rainscape, CoreScience Golf line, FieldGem and EcoSystem. Matt is hopeful about the future “Product development work scaling to the future, I imagine the streambeds we have worked to develop product for and all of the environment we have helped to grow out…I see a big impact on that work. It is evolving. We don’t have the best solutions to save the Bay, but we are evolving product innovations and our mobile equipment will scale to make a big impact. Infrastructure is being built and the business is evolving. We will have a huge stamp on the environment and really build on the Luck Stone brand that truly does get out there and helps to clean up the country and world through soil, who would have thought.”

Interview

Billy Chenault, Vice President, Customer Experience & Emerging Businesses; Donald Jones, Vice President of Information Technolog, Vice Presidents & Innovation Partners