For well over a century, marble from quarries in North Georgia’s Pickens County has been the ideal material for buildings, monuments and sculptures that represent the enduring values of America: the Lincoln Memorial, the Alamo Cenotaph, the headstones marking the graves of fallen heroes in Arlington National Cemetery.
From its founding in 1884, the Georgia Marble Company had operated continuously for nearly 120 years when economic conditions caught up with the business. After the company changed ownership a few times, the dimension stone division of Georgia Marble was marked for closing. Market conditions and old technology had decreased the profitability in structural and memorial marble.
Fortunately for the residents and businesses around Tate, Ga., in 2003, the Canadian company Polycor bought the struggling dimension stone division of the Georgia Marble Company from Imerys, saving not only more than 70 jobs, but also a long Georgia tradition.
Training from local technical colleges and Georgia Quick Start, as well as new technology, were the key.
“New technology allows us to be more productive and competitive,” said Patrick Perus, then-President and CEO of Polycor. “Training is important, Quick Start is an amazing program, the best of its kind.”
Quebec City, Canada
Polycor is the world’s leading natural stone quarrier and our core mission is to make people fall in love with natural stone.
Chattahoochee Technical College
“We will continue investing in Georgia thanks to Quick Start.”
— Patrick Perus, Former CEO and President, Polycor, Inc.
Used in landmark structures from the Lincoln Memorial to the new Museum of Modern Art in New York, marble from Pickens County, Ga. has been the stone of choice for buildings and monuments across the country for nearly 120 years.
Steam engine quarrying at the Georgia Marble Co., which wasn’t officially founded until 1884.
The Georgia Marble Company Quarry in Tate County is still in use today.
Plant worker reviews specs for monument.
Plant worker uses crane to lift marble slabs.
