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24|August 2021
A New Discovery Reveals World-Class Granite in Minnesota: Superior Northern
slippery rock gAzette
Jake Barkley appears to be perched on the edge of his seat. In a Zoom conversation with Barkley and his colleagues at Kasota Stone, the vibe is one of casual intensity and sharp focus. Much of the stone industry rests on centuries-old quarries with a multi-generational history of oper- ations, but Kasota Stone emerged only seven years ago. “We’re kind of breaking in on the scene” says Barkley, the principal founder of the company.
Barkley and his team bring forth an unusual business model, a collaboration with the State of Minnesota, and a clearly-articu- lated determination to grow and thrive.
“How do we scale up and grow this business at a rapid rate to be able to compete at a national and international level?” asks Barkley, reflecting on the question that’s driven him for the past seven years. “That kind of stuff just doesn’t happen by accident.”
Core Values
Kasota Stone adopted an ap- proach called Entrepreneurial Operating System, which is a framework to help companies un- derstand their goals so they can stay focused on their main purpose. Business decisions are centered around a set of core values, which Barkley recites: “Commitment to excellence, tenacity to deliver, empowered optimism, problem
Karin Kirk
usenaturalstone.com Diagrams © Karin Kirk. Photos Courtesy Kasota Stone
solver, and family.” He adds, “It kind of sounds squishy, but for us, it’s real.”
The best place to see the val- ues in motion is to look at the people at the company. “One of our strengths is our people,” says Barkley. “In the quarry business, there is nothing easy that happens here,” he says, acknowledging that it’s one of the toughest jobs he’s ever had. “Some of these folks just work their tails off and tenacity to deliver is first and foremost one of our best core values,” he says. “We’re super proud of that.”
Keeping Company Culture Vibrant During COVID
During the pandemic, “big get togethers just haven’t happened” says Barkley, “which is like the an- tithesis of building your culture.” Undeterred, the management team has been facilitating mobile, out- door lunch gatherings for each de- partment. “Colin makes a mean lunch that nobody can resist,” says Barkley with a grin, referring to Colin Kimball, the company ‘in- tegrator,’ who oversees the var- ious departments throughout the company.
Kimball sets the stage: “Bring a big grill, cook a bunch of burgers,
cook a bunch of brats, laugh a lit- tle bit, poke fun at each other, blow a little bit of wind in everybody’s sail and then get back to work,” he says. “It’s all about engaging with people at a real human level.”
Brandon Archer, Director of Sales and Marketing, jumps in with a recent anecdote, “We did one in January and it had to be 15 degrees outside and Colin and I were cook- ing burgers. It was fun. When you bring some dedication and actually go out to deliver – people appreci- ate that.”
Perhaps a healthy appetite is an unspoken addition to Kasota’s core values. “We’ve got a bunch
of big, strong eaters on our team,” Kimball mused.
‘The Find of a Lifetime’
Kasota’s initial foray into natural stone pro- duction was a limestone quarry at the company’s headquarters in Mankato, Minnesota. In the last few years they’ve opened to two new granite quarries in northern Minnesota – Superior Northern granite near Ely, and a green gran- ite quarry near Isabella. Barkley describes the company’s Superior Northern granite as “a de- posit of rare quality.”
The discovery was no acci- dent. Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources is charged with finding and managing mineral re- sources in the state. A state geolo- gist identified the sparkling black granite as one with market poten- tial, and Kasota leased the land from the state and began quarrying in 2015.
The stone has few joints or frac- tures, and can be extracted in large, flawless blocks. Barkley describes quarry faces over 100 feet long and 40 feet tall with no irregularities or cracks. “And the color is consistent the whole way,” he adds.
If you want to please your geol- ogy friends, Superior Northern is called anorthosite. The term ‘black granite’ is a geologic oxymoron, because by definition granites are light colored. Superior Northern is made almost entirely of dark grey feldspar. Feldspar crystals have flat surfaces that reflect light, and the larger the crystals, the bigger the wow-factor. Depending on the surface finish, Superior Northern can have a subtle glint, a holo- gram-like twinkle, or a brilliant gleaming sparkle.
Barkley recalls that the geologist who found the deposit “went bon- kers for it because he knew what wehadinthere,”hesays.“Itwas the find of a lifetime.”
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One of the newest quarry operations in North America, Kasota Stone works to deliver a new granite deposit of rare quality to the international and domestic market: Superior Northern—a sparkling “black” granite.