Luck Companies Celebrates 100 Years

BY SARAH REDOHL

In 1923, Charles Luck Jr. opened a crushed stone operation, Sunnyside Granite Company, in Richmond, Virginia. One hundred years later, Luck Companies is the nation’s largest family-owned and operated producer of crushed stone, sand and gravel.

Today, Luck operates 30 locations across Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia and employs approximately 950 people across its divisions:

• Luck Stone, the nation’s largest familyowned and operated producer of crushed stone, sand and gravel;

• Luck Ecosystems, which transforms raw materials into environmental performance products;

• Luck Real Estate Ventures, which specializes in the development of industrial and commercial land.

Although Luck Companies has experienced plenty of good fortune in its 100 years in business, its success has little to do with luck. Quite frankly, it doesn’t even have to do with rock. According to Charlie Luck IV, CEO of

Luck Companies and grandson of the founder, the company focuses on the “how” rather than the “what” behind its operations. “We are in the crushed stone business,” Luck said. “This is the ‘what.’ Our values of leadership, integrity, commitment and creativity are the ‘how.’

“Our business is aggregates, but people are our purpose,” he continued. “As we mark our 100th year in business, our success has been fueled by people who embody tremendous pride, deep caring for each other, world class innovation, and a commitment to our values and beliefs.”

The History Of Luck

Luck Companies began as Sunnyside Granite Company in Richmond, in 1923. When the company began, production on a good day amounted to about 100 tons of stone—crushed by a mere seven employees with sledgehammers and loaded by hand onto mule-driven carts for transport out of the quarry to various construction projects.

Even in the early days of the company, its people were a priority for the company’s leaders.

“In the early 1900s, my great grandfather Charles S. Luck Sr.’s business, C.S. Luck & Sons, won a project to dig the foundation for the Pontiac Motor Company in Michigan,” Luck said. The Virginia-based company set out for the Midwest, transporting 100 associates to the site by locomotive. When the job was complete, the train’s cook car returned to Virginia, where Charles Luck Jr. served his employees meals from the car every day at Luck Companies’ first quarry, Sunnyside.

“The Sunnyside cook car is one of the earliest images in our company’s archives and has grown to symbolize the caring, people-focused approach to business that’s inspired our organization for 100 years,” Luck said.

This mentality has been evident in each of the company’s three generations of leadership. Charles Luck Jr. was known for saying, “If you take care of your people, they will take care of you.”

“This sentiment has served as the company’s North Star for a century,” Luck said. Charles Luck III, who led the company from 1965-1999, expressed that same belief through the company’s slogan and promise to people: “We care.”

Charlie Luck IV broadened the scope of that belief under the company’s current mission statement, first announced in 2011: “We will ignite human potential through values-based leadership and positively impact the lives of people around the world.”

In celebration of the company’s 100-year anniversary, Luck Companies launched a “What is your Dream?” campaign where employees were asked to share their dreams: if they could do anything, what would it be? “We will always encourage associates to identify and pursue their passions, whether it’s professionally at the company or outside of work,” Luck said. “We were blown away by the responses and have learned so much about what inspires the incredible people that work at our company.”

“I think these quotes show that what we stand for hasn’t changed over time,” Luck said. “Our company has always been about people—the people who come to work each day to support what we believe in at Luck Companies, and the people who have chosen to partner with us: our customers and communities.”

Charlie Luck IV’s commitment to carry on and expand the legacy of his father’s and grandfather’s commitment to take care of people was cited as a reason for Luck being awarded the 2023 Barry K. Wendt Memorial Commitment Award by the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA). The award recognizes individuals who exhibit dedication to family, community and the aggregates industry. Charles S. Luck III, Charlie Luck’s father, received the Barry K. Wendt Memorial Commitment Award in 2004.

“[Luck’s] industry expertise and drive to help individuals succeed showcases he is an outstanding representation of the Barry K. Wendt Memorial Commitment Award,” said NSSGA President and CEO Michael Johnson.

Luck was also honored with the ROCKPAC Paul Mellott Jr. Award for Political Excellence, which recognizes industry leaders who work on behalf of the aggregates industry and promote the importance of political advocacy.

CULTURE & COMMUNITY

According to Luck, the company’s culture has been integral to attracting the talent it needs to run such a large operation. “Our dedication to igniting human potential through values-based leadership really differentiates us, in addition to the personal development and technical training opportunities we provide to all associates throughout their entire career,” Luck said.

“As finding talent becomes more challenging, we rely on the strength of our culture,” Luck said. “The profitability of our business isn’t enough in attracting talent—we need to provide meaningful career paths and opportunities to contribute to the community.”

Luck Companies’ people-first mentality is also evidenced in the way the company supports and engages with the communities in which its 30 facilities operate. “At Luck Companies, we engrain ourselves in the communities where we work and live,”