Charlie Luck runs his company with rock-solid values

Charles Luck IV's first love was the thrill of the race.

"I pretty much raced motorcycles or cars from the age of 12 until I was 26," he said. "It was something I loved passionately, and it totally dominated my life."

He raced motocross as a teenager and made the transition to stock cars during his college years at Virginia Military Institute, eventually entering the Busch Grand National Series.

Yet Luck always cared about his family's business -- Luck Stone Corp., the stone-products company that his grandfather, Charles Luck Jr., founded in 1923.

At 26, Luck knew that spending 250 days a year on the road and long days managing a racing team wasn't going to work as a long-term career or be conducive to the family life he wanted.

Plus, he said, "I didn't want the family business to decline in the third generation."

Luck left racing in 1986 to join Luck Stone.

He grew up working at the Goochland County-based business. As a child, he often did odd jobs or cleaned up around the company's headquarters and at its Boscobel quarry next door. Later, he worked at various jobs such as a truck driver and repairman during the summers.

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Now 48 and the company's top executive, Luck is leading Luck Stone as it adjusts to a recession after going through a period of expansion during the boom economy. Demand has weakened for its products, which are used in home and road construction.

But ask Luck what his ambitions are for Luck Stone and he doesn't respond with the typical list of business goals. Profit and revenue, market share and expansion -- those seem only a means to an end for him.

"We don't have ambitions to become the biggest company in the industry," said Luck, who goes by the name Charlie and often flashes a jaunty smile when he makes a point.

Luck, who still looks about as youthful as the 20-something who drove race cars, likes to talks about legacy and his three major aspirations for the company, which started with a single quarry in Richmond in 1923.

The company now has quarries and crushed-stone plants dotting the landscape of Virginia and two other states. It also supplies architectural stone from around the world at its Charles Luck Stone Center stores in the mid-Atlantic.

"First, I want Luck Stone to be recognized in the world as one of the top values-based companies," Luck said. "There are not many people willing to put in the effort it takes to build a values-based organization. It is a whole lot easier to run a business just off the numbers.

"The second aspiration is to be known for our strategic agility," he said. "What that means is that we are known for reinventing the business for the changes in the marketplace.

"The third aspiration is, I want Luck Stone to be known as a place where people come to work and achieve their wildest dreams."

The goals may seem lofty for a company whose primary business is stone aggregates -- quarried and crushed stone used for construction and road building. Yet Luck, who has been president of the company since 1995 and CEO since 2000, said the business is ultimately about people -- employees and customers.

"We are in the business of building infrastructure that improves people's lives," said Luck, who is described by employees and business acquaintances as an affable, curious and approachable chief executive.

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As he talks, Luck likes to write out his thoughts on a whiteboard in his office at the company's headquarters.

The building, expanded and renovated in 2008, could vie for the title of the Richmond area's most beautiful corporate office. Its crafted stone walls and tall windows overlooking the countryside reflect Luck's belief that the company should be a place where people want to work, and where they feel inspired to be creative.

Creativity is one of the company's four core values, along with integrity, commitment and leadership.

The four principles are written down on the multicolored "Luck Values" cards that Luck hands out. "While those are just words, when you put them into action they are incredibly powerful," he said.

The values are part of the legacy that he said was handed down to him from his grandfather and his father, Charles Luck III, who has turned over the reins to his son as top executive but remains active as the company's chairman.

Company founder Charles Luck Jr., who died in 1972, "was a big people person," Luck said. "He always drove a large four-door car, and the trunk was full of things he would give away to people -- golf balls, clocks, jewelry pins and rain gauges. He believed in hard work and treating others like you would want to be treated."

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After Charlie Luck joined the company in 1986, he held a variety of positions as he moved through a management-training program. The jobs gave him a chance to learn the business "from the ground up," he said, and to get to know many of the company's employees.

"He is approachable, and he is down to earth," said David Hisey, who has been with Luck Stone for 26 years.

Hisey, director of global sourcing for the Charles Luck Stone Center business, spent 14 days in China with Luck a few years ago to meet stone suppliers there. "He is extremely curious about how things work, and how to do things better."

Hisey, a stone mason by training, said he never imagined he would end up traveling the world when he joined the company.

"I have learned a tremendous amount," he said "One of the things that Charlie and the Luck family do is they really give you opportunities to grow and to learn if you chose to take advantage of that."

Curiosity is a key trait that defines Luck, said Michael Hinrichsen, a corporate accounts manager for Caterpillar Inc., which supplies trucks and equipment for quarries.

Hinrichsen met Luck through business in 2002 and has come to know him as a friend.

"We bounce ideas off each other. We can talk about anything whether it is business, family or world events," Hinrichsen said. "Charlie is just a warm individual. He is very curious and always looking for ways of improving the business, and improving his life."

Hinrichsen said Luck Stone is known in the industry for innovative ideas.

One example, he said, is the company's move several years ago to rebrand its architectural-stone division as the upscale Charles Luck Stone Centers, emphasizing the aesthetics of stone for home construction or improvement.

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The late 1990s and early 2000s were what Luck calls "the go-go years," when orders were coming in fast and the company was seeing enormous growth and adding facilities and employees.

After rising to about 400 employees in its first 72 years, Luck Stone's employment jumped to about 1,100 by 2005.

That rapid growth was one reason the company formally adopted its values system about seven years ago, to make sure its core beliefs were not lost in the expansion.

Now, with the recession, adhering to the values is even more important, Luck said.

The recession has meant cutbacks for Luck Stone, including 150 layoffs and reassignments announced late last year. Luck called that the hardest decision of his career.

What Luck calls the "new reality" of the slower economy means the company has to be more nimble and focused on active, creative and innovative ways to please customers.

"We don't want to have a 'me-too' philosophy, following everybody else," he said. "We want to be the leaders in innovation."

Charles Luck III said he believes the company is in good hands for many years to come.

"Charlie has done a great job," he said, adding that his only concern is that his son works too hard.

Economic times are tough, he said, "but it will turn around."

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When he is not working, Charlie Luck enjoys time in the outdoors, especially bird hunting, and traveling with the family.

He and his wife, Lisa, have three children. Being outdoors, without telephones and televisions, "is a great way to connect as a family," he said.

It also renews the optimism that Luck says is part of his upbringing.

While much of the talk at business cocktail parties is still "gloom and doom," he said, "I have no interest in leading a company with that philosophy."

"We only get to go around once in life," he said. "And part of my wiring is that we are absolutely going to be a stronger company when we come out of this. We will have learned more. Will have grown. We will have trained people, and we will have deepened our values."

Contact John Reid Blackwell at (804) 775-8123 or .