THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 23, 1996 TAG: 9609210139
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 15 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY LEROY MILLER, SPECIAL TO BUSINESS WEEKLY
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 131 lines
Anna Mast laughs, recalling her introduction to cultured marble. ``I didn't know what the stuff was, when we bought the business in 1989.''
The struggle since has often been anything but laughable. However, today, Anna, husband Mose, and their 23-year-old daughter, Regina, own and operate Hampton Roads' largest cultured marble factory.
By dint of hard work, on-the-job learning, concern for quality, and, most importantly, doing their utmost to meet customers' demands, the Masts' enterprise has grown from five to two dozen full-time employees.
A 12,000-square-foot combined office, showroom, and bustling production plant at 506 Viking Drive in Virginia Beach mark their achievement. Meanwhile, Anna has learned cultured marble is ground calcium carbonate (limestone) with pigment, resins and hardener, mixed into a slurry and then poured into molds to solidify.
The Mast family's success story is all the more remarkable in that only Regina has a high school diploma. ``Mose and I have only an eighth grade education,'' Anna says, half apologetically. Both are from Amish families, where schooling beyond the elementary grades has traditionally been discouraged.
Seven years ago, Mose Mast had a thriving trim carpentry business, when an acquaintance approached him about forming a three-way partnership to buy Virginia Beach Marble. Selling price was $63,000 for the small plant, then on Dorset Avenue.
The opportunity for investment caught Mose's fancy. Expecting his colleagues would handle the day-to-day operation, Mose planned for a relatively inactive role in the venture. However, as time approached for closing the deal, both partners dropped out for lack of finances. Abruptly, the Masts were on their own.
Since the four production workers and secretary chose to stay with the company, Mose and Anna decided he would continue his trim carpentry, while she gradually learned the business by going to the office one or two days a week.
``The first month, November '89, we showed a nice profit. Partly, for the way the bookkeeping was done,'' Mose remembers. ``The next, and following months, we had big losses.''
Home construction slumped in 1990, and with it went the demand for Virginia Beach Marble's main product - molded bathroom lavatories. Anna continues the account:
``By March, it was do or die. We had to let the secretary go, and I and Regina took over the office. Things were terribly slow. Whole days would pass without the phone ringing.
``One thing in our favor was the builders who knew and trusted Mose. As construction got better, more and more agreed to give us a try. Originally, we had five contractor accounts. Today, there are between 135 and 140.
``Back then, if we were lucky, we finished a dozen to 15 pieces a day. Today, we're doing 50 to 70 pieces.'' Gross sales in 1990 were $216,000, with 1996 projected to top out around $1,000,000.
The Masts give ample credit to their employees for VBM's success. They say, ``We have good people working here. In fact, we wouldn't have made it without those four who stayed with us in the beginning.''
Three of the men, Kevin Moots, Fernando Maldinando and William ``Rocky'' Link, are still with VBM. Rocky has been working marble ever since high school graduation in 1980.
``Yeah, it's tough, messy work,'' he says. ``But I like working with my hands and seeing the finished product. They treat you very well here. They're honest.''
Sam Gregory, a four-year employee, echoes Rocky. ``The management and organization are good. Mose, that's a workin' man. He's a leader. It's different from a boss just telling you to go do the job.''
With rising sales at the Dorset Avenue plant, lack of space had become a major problem by early 1992. Later that year, Masts purchased and moved to what was formerly The Marble Factory on Viking Drive.
Once there, and with room to grow, Virginia Beach Marble expanded its product line. First: walk-in showers, including a wheelchair accessible unit; then pedestal free-standing lavatories, and oversize custom bathtubs.
Along with the marble, cultured granite and onyx were introduced. Compared with the lighter-toned marble, granite has a heavier, subdued quality, whereas, onyx gives off an elegant translucence.
Most recently, the company has begun manufacturing a modified acrylic-polyester material. The durable, solid surface product is used for kitchen counter tops. ``It's the coming thing,'' Mose says confidently. ``The problem is, we've got to have more space to really get going with that.''
While obliged to take on VBM's sole ownership, as a result of the partners dropping out initially, Mose continued his carpentry business until last year. Only then did he begin to devote full time to the marble company.
That Mose could be less than altogether involved before obviously reflects the management skills his wife and daughter have brought to the business. Anna oversees the office and bookkeeping, while Regina follows incoming orders through production and delivery.
Regina goes self assuredly about her job: answering phone questions and speaking with showroom visitors. A recent morning found her dashing about the plant, clipboard in hand, and concern in her voice.
``Dad, the truck for Hampton is full. There are 16 pieces left that I promised for yesterday. Can you take them in your truck?''
Mose agreed to see that the delivery was done, ending a momentary crisis. Regina says her biggest challenge comes when plant employees don't show up for work. ``That means I have to pull someone off another job to fill in. That leaves a gap and just adds to the problem.''
Does she carry job worries along home? ``Oh, I'll think about them driving to and from work. Evenings, I try to put them aside. On weekends, I block it out of my mind.''
Quality control has been a major bugaboo for the cultured marble industry, particularly, in smaller factories, VBM included, without closed environments, where heat and humidity can't be carefully regulated. Weather changes mean components must be varied carefully to ensure proper hardening; otherwise, the piece may crack or warp.
A second and more controllable factor is the condition of the molds. They must be flawless with a high sheen, or else the dull spot or nick will transpose to the finished product. The Masts admit to having contended with both problems.
``We're giving better attention to our mixing. That's taken care of some of the weather related problems,'' Mose says. ``We've also put in a mold care program. We learned that the hard way. A year or two ago, we lost a $10,000-a-month account over a customer's unhappiness.
``We now have each mold numbered. That number is on the finished piece and recorded on the invoice. When we have a complaint, we pull the mold out and repair or replace it.''
Asked about future plans for Virginia Beach Marble, Mose Mast replies, ``Well, we're practically at capacity in this building, but there's room here to enlarge. We looked into that before we bought the property. ``I expect growth to be steady. But then again, we've grown pretty fast up to now.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos by MOTOYA NAKAMURA, The Virginian-Pilot
Virginia Beach Marble on cover
Tevis Brandon works on the molds for cultured marble sinks.
Virginia Beach Marble produces bathroom fixtures...
From left below, Mose and Anna Mast and their daughter Regina run
Virginia Beach Marble... by CNB