A Montana company that supplies Minnesota’s construction industry has successfully emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, taking advantage of an economy that is bouncing back.
With the recession came a lot of heartache for many businesses. They once saw great profits and then they all of a sudden saw themselves falling with the economy.
But out of the ashes comes a success story in the name of Glacier Stone Supply. It is the perfect representation of how the construction and real estate industry has fluctuated in the past decade.
It all began in the early 2000s when the construction industry saw a lot of promise due to the housing boom. When the recession hit, it feel from very tall heights and it hit very hard.
The company provides rock from Northwest Montana for building and landscaping projects. They have been doing this since 2003. Their plant runs nine hours a day, seven days a week. They are now discovering that the return in demand may require them to run the plant for longer hours and this could mean more jobs.
Bloomberg News said in a report in May that construction companies across the nation broke ground on nearly 100,000 homes. This is an 11.4 percent increase over the annualized rate specified in April, which was 853,000.
The past few months are looking good and this is leading to a great deal of optimism in association with the building industry right now. The difference is a marked one over what has been seen in the past five years, resulting in both builders and suppliers getting more work than they’ve had in a very long time. Work has even been projected out months in advance.
At Glacier Stone Supply, the company has been shipping solid stone and stone veneer orders at a higher rate. They have been hipping orders to Minnesota, New York, Washington, and many others. They even shopped a container of stone to Kodiak Island, Alaska for a project they are doing there. The stone is also very popular in Canada and several containers of stone were shipped to Russia to be used on a 20,000 square foot home.
The reason why the stone is being sought after is because of the unique stone formations in the area. The stone is frequently found on homes that are valued up to $300,000, but homes in the $1 million price range are starting to brandish the stone as well. This has to do with the resurgence in higher-end housing all across the country.
When Glacier had to file for bankruptcy, it is because the bottom completely fell out. The company was not able to keep up with their investments. They had too much equipment and dirt, but not enough demand to use it all. This meant they had to sell large pieces of machinery and restructure their debt.
As of now, the company employees around 50 people and this number may change as the demand for the stone continues to increase with the rebounding construction industry.