Stone industry suffers alongside economy

Danielle Switalski

Plains residents Juan LuLack and Ben Kirschbaum have more things in common besides where they live. For one thing they both moved from working in the woods on lumber to gathering stones, eventually starting their own businesses. Their businesses are also suffering in unison with the current economic climate.

The stoning industry has become a prominent feature in the Plains community for the past few years. LuLack, owner of Block Mountain Slate and Stone began working with stones about 13 years ago and Kirschbaum, owner of Grizzly Stones, who worked in the woods for 26 years, moved to stones when he realized the value they hold. He has been working with stones for the past 12 years.

“We call it the new logging. I mean a lot of people who used to log, now rock,” said Kirschbaum.

Both men are trying to find ways to keep their businesses afloat, while weathering the economic downturn.

There are over five stoning businesses in Plains alone, each business providing many job opportunities for the residents of the town.

“I mean just right here in town you have at least 20 people whose jobs depend on it (stoning industry) and a little town like Plains you take 20 jobs away, suddenly the grocery store and everywhere else notices it,” said Kirschbaum

The stone industry is prevalent in Sanders County primarily due to the array of colors found in the stones. The assortment of colors found in the county can be attributed to the different minerals being deposited in the stones, which LuLack said is something that makes Plains unique compared to other stoning locations.

“There’s such a variety of colors and textures here in stone, you can find burgundy red, jade green, grey, rust colors, gold colors, blue colors, I mean it is unreal,” said LuLack.

Kirschbaum explained that since a lot of the people now working with the stoning market used to work in logging have an advantage because they have been out walking around the mountains for many years and know exactly where all the rockslides are that produce the unique stones that are valuable to the industry. One added element that makes the stones in Sanders County valuable is their durability as LuLack explains they are a lot tougher than soft limestone and “poorly bonded sandstone” found in other parts of the country.

Both men are trying their best to push through the hard times until the housing market turns around because so much of the stoning industry depends on new housing developments. LuLack said production wise his business is at half of what it could be and has direct correlation to the current state of the economy. However, both LuLack and Kirschbaum feel confident that things will pick up the second the economy turns around.

In the meantime, they are tightening their belts and finding new ways to broaden their business ventures.

“All you can do about it is refocus your business and what you’re trying to do, how much you’re spending marketing wise and where are we going to sell our products,” said LuLack.

LuLack’s main strategy for the next few months is broadening his marketing campaign to new locations and focusing on particular areas throughout the United States and Canada. He said they are being more focused on who they are calling to market their stones to, while utilizing Home and Garden shows and landscaping and contract shows.

Kirschbaum in the meantime is trying to stay afloat until Spring and staying hopeful that the economy and housing market will turn around. For now, he said, Grizzly Stones has a few projects in the next couple of weeks and through the winter that should keep their “heads above water” for the time being.

“Well if the housing market picks back up like they think it will than it should be fine, but a lot of us bank on it because we have a lot invested in it,” said Kirschbaum.

Being such a prevalent source of local employment opportunities, the stoning industry is banking heavily on an economic turn around, alongside the rest of the country.