Slippery Rock Gazette

Peter J. Marcucci

Photos Courtesy Moda Stone

Above: Double vanity with matching vessel sinks is a decorative contrast to the vanity tops and the chiseled edge backsplash.

Above: This striking granite island is the focal point of this custom kitchen.

The year was 1931, and as Americans watched President Herbert Hoover deal with a failing economy (the Great Depression) and an ecological disaster (the Great Dust Bowl), the world anxiously watched the rise to power of a new and fanatical political faction in Germany – dire times, but not everywhere. 

1931 was also the year that Valentine Rausch was hired by the Columbia Granite Company, a quarry and monument supplier owned by Dewey Kaddatz and Roy Steiner. Little did Rausch realize that he was laying the foundation for Life Song Monuments, a memorial fabrication company nearly 100 years into the future.       

How do these previous events relate to Moda Stone, you wonder? Well, for starters, it’s how the unlikely formation of this month’s feature company began, recalled Great Grandson and President, Tim Rausch.    

“My cousins operated a company called Rausch Granite Interiors and Rausch Brothers Monument Company in Southeastern South Dakota. The two companies stayed together until the 1950s when my grandfather, Herman, moved here to Rapid City, South Dakota, and started the Rausch Monument Company. It operated through the 1980s during which time, my father, Charles, took the company over in 1985, and by 2017 renamed it Life Song Monuments. There were a lot of transitions and new locations for these family-owned companies throughout those early years. As for Moda Stone, it actually came to fruition from Rausch Granite Products by my dad, Chuck Rausch, to do contracted installations of countertops until 2007, when we opened our own fabrication plant here in Rapid City. The company name was then changed to Moda Stone in 2014, mostly due to the fact that the name Rausch was pretty much synonymous with headstones, and we needed our brand to stand alone from the world of monuments. Hence, the birth of Moda Stone.” 

Moda Stone currently has four locations in South Dakota, operating operates a fabrication and showroom in Rapid City, while the Spearfish, Sioux Falls East and Sioux Falls South locations serve as only showrooms. 

All locations, however, are jointly owned by five family members, and operate under the Rausch Companies Incorporated umbrella. All locations were begun new to satisfy expansion within the company, and were opened within the last five years.

Above, left: Archive shop photo, Rausch Brothers Monument Company. Above, right: 1950s era granite saw for monument production. Life Song has a history of four generations of hand-crafted artistry. They offer over 40 shapes for monuments or signs, with detailed custom designs brought out by traditional carving, and both standard etched lettering and laser photo-etched designs.

Above: This full slab, outdoor kitchen island uses a durable granite.

The company’s scope of service extends to all of South Dakota, south eastern Montana, eastern Wyoming, northern Nebraska, northeastern Iowa and western Minnesota. “There’s a lot of territory that’s very rural around Rapid City,” continued Rausch, “and most of our installations are located two and a-half to three hours’ drive. Some are five hours away, such as some recent customers who were farmers and ranchers.”

Material output is approximately 6,000 square feet per month, consisting of 80 percent residential and 20 percent commercial projects. Natural stone is still the company’s mainstay by 60 percent, while quartz and Dekton (porcelain) make up the final 40 percent, said Rausch, adding, “We’ve seen a decrease in natural stone and an increase in Dekton, and we are really trying to develop the exterior applications of it.”

Most of Moda Stone’s natural materials come containerized from Brazil, Italy and India, said Rausch, while quartz is offered in both private label and name brands.

Above, left: : Kashmir granite countertops with a soft pencil round edge and custom backsplash. Above, Right: Moda Stone’s Rapid City, S.D. showroom is one of four in the state. Their installation area covers all of South Dakota, northern Nebraska, southeastern Montana,

The company’s shop is highly automated, and exclusively with Park Industries machinery. Feeding those machines with work is accomplished with  6 full time template personnel, 15 fabrication shop craftsmen, 6 monument craftsmen and 10 installers.  As a whole, the company employs 49 with 7 sales experts and 7 department managers, and the remainder filling support roles in the company. 

Growing Pains

But all the best equipment in the nicest building won’t get you where you want to go, explained Rausch–you’ve got to have more.

“We have been in an extreme and accelerated growth period, and we are currently doing four times the volume than we were five years ago. One of the tough things we are dealing with in Rapid City is that we are constantly trying to hire new employees, but there is not much of a pool to pick from. There is less than two percent unemployment here right now, which is a good thing, but it also means that there are not that many workers available, so we are always in a battle to get help.” 

 “Yes!” adds Rick Piltz, Vice President of operations. “A lot of people don’t understand that we are on kind of a little island up here, and that the cities are so far apart. It’s pretty hard to find a trained stone fabricator in this area, so I try to find anyone with some type of fabrication experience, say a welder, someone that can understand sizes and angles. As for training, honestly, one of the biggest things I’m focused on is not having employee turnover, because I can then get and keep a team that is rooted and set the standards. I schedule everything through Moraware, and everyone knows how to meet these standards. I do follow up on their work and check it here and there, but I allow them the time to train each other, and check off each other’s work side by side. That’s how we really tackle the training dilemma, because I don’t have the opportunity to bring in guys who have been polishing for 15 years, or running a machine, or something like that. We train our people from the ground up, find out what their problems are, and help them with those issues. As for training new people for our machines, we at least try to look for people with some tech background, such as being familiar with CAD.” 

Life Song offers many custom shapes besides traditional rectangular monuments. Above, right: Their personalized, detailed photo-engraved designs are very popular for memorials. Above, left: A special Life Song custom shape: Polishing pads in granite.

Marketing and Sales in a Rural Climate

“This market is very active in all of our locations,” continued Rausch. “I would also say that we are somewhat insulated from the national economy. When it is booming, we are not at the same level, and likewise, when it hits the low points, we don’t suffer the same way as the rest of the country. But definitely, the major areas that we are operating in are growing as far as population and jobs. 

“What has helped to set us apart from others is that we’ve put a lot of effort into our marketing and advertising and truthfully, I would say, from what I’ve seen in the industry, we’ve invested a lot more than the average fabricator would.

“Part of it is because we try to cover such a large area. This has helped tremendously, and if there is one thing I could say to every fabrication company out there, it is do not be afraid to advertise. It’s been a great benefit for us, and we are convinced that we are going to expand on what we spend. So put your product out there, tell them what you’re doing, and don’t be afraid to charge what you need to charge. Too many shops are in a race to the bottom, and if you’re trying to get business just by cutting your price, you are cutting all of your core values out and can’t pay your employees or yourself.

“What also sets us apart is that we are the only ones who put a 25-year warranty on all of our products. Problems don’t happen all that often, but if we have to replace a kitchen to make a customer happy, we do it! We all work in the fabrication industry and issues happen, and for us it’s important that we jump on it right away and take care of it. We never leave a customer hanging, and always do what we need to do to take care of it. Furthermore, we make getting our products convenient for the customer, such as having our own materials here so the customer doesn’t have to go to another stone yard, or for a sink, go somewhere else. Our sales people also try to work within the customer’s time frame and in their home as much as possible.” 

Above, left: This spacious kitchen features Ivory Fantasy granite countertops with coordinating, full-height glass tile backsplash. Above, right: Classic white master bath with Calacatta marble tub surround and tiles, Snowfall quartz vanity with porcelain vessel sinks.

Columbia Granite quarry operations in the 1930s.

Continuing Down the Long and Winding Road

“One thing that I see is how much our people have developed. Stone fabrication is fun, but very stressful when we get some off-the-wall project from time to time, but in the end, it’s good to see that they enjoy what they are doing. They all do a great job and they are great at the problem solving end of it, and this is testament to their dedication and getting it right. Moda Stone is positioned in the market at a premium price point, and traditionally higher priced than our competitors, yet we have grown in volume and size exponentially. Part of that is because we have a good name because we do a good job, and that’s because of the guys in the plant and the guys in the field making that happen. We are here to provide our people and their family with success, and try every day to remember that they have husbands, wives and children, and everything involved. They are all part of our team, and we want them to stay here. 

“As for the immediate future, we are in the completion process of a new 18,000 square-foot fabrication facility, and we will be in there within the next 18 months. We’ve also got our eyes on other markets, and plan on being in them in the next five years. South Dakota is a beautiful place to live and raise a family.

The cost of living is reasonable, and is a paradise with everything you could want. This may not be the optimum place for a fabrication shop, but the reason it’s here is because we love living here.”

Moda Stone is a member of the Natural Stone Institute  and the Stone Fabricators Alliance.

For more detailed information visit Moda-Stone.com or lifesongmonuments.com .