Royal City manufacturing plant big player on stone veneer stage

ROYAL CITY – When former Royal Slope residents William and John Bennett, father and son, were launching Eldorado Stone in the 1960s, they had no idea how big their dream was. Turns out, it was big.

Eldorado Stone has grown into the world's largest producer of artificial stone veneer, and the use of artificial stone veneer has exploded. Most stone facades today are made of artificial stone veneer and not natural stone.

"My father decided to do this because he saw an opportunity to make a product which would look like natural stone but be much less expensive to install," John Bennett said.

The idea worked.

There are Eldorado Stone plants in the Philippines, Mexico, Pennsylvania, Ohio (2) and Royal City. They all serve separate markets, with Royal City covering Washington, Oregon and Idaho and British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

William Bennett died of a heart attack in 1975 at the age of 51. He wasn't around to witness the eventual success of Eldorado Stone.

After William Bennett launched El Dorado Stone, it was John Bennett who ran with it and brought the company's early growth. He later left the company and is part of company in Carnation that's involved in similar products, including thin cut natural stone.

Still, John Bennett is a key part of Eldorado Stone's history. According to the company, John founded Eldorado Stone in 1969. By the mid-1990s it had expanded to more than [25] regional franchises, each with its own brand and product line.

In 2001, Bennett and his largest franchisee, StoneCraft, bought back and consolidated Eldorado’s franchisees to develop a national architectural stone brand. Graham Partners’ investment company was of the belief that Eldorado’s products were the most believable in the industry and that builders would increasingly demand stone veneer.

"We redesigned the structure of Eldorado Stone to strengthen the company's position as the premier stone veneer manufacturer in the world,” then chairman John Bennett said in 2000.

Today, Eldorado Stone, LLC, is headquartered in San Marcos, Calif. It is a subsidiary of Headwaters Inc.

According to Bennett, the original mold plant was established in Royal Camp at a time his father and family lived on Royal Slope. The original stone veneer manufacturing plant was in Ephrata.

The stone plant later moved to Kirkland. When Dennis and Dee Grimmer became partners in the business, they moved it back to Royal City.

“Dennis and Dee were Royal City residents at different times in their lives,” Bennett said. “Royal City was chosen because they liked the lifestyle there and because there was a good workforce.”

The groundwork laid by the Bennetts and Grimmers has led to a plant that provides work for about 130 people year-around. During the same time two plants have closed elsewhere, Royal City has grown.

Plant manager Robert Aguilar reports that production was up 15 percent at Eldorado Stone at the start of the current fiscal year – September – compared to the same time last year.

“It's the same customers ordering more product,” he said.

Fifty percent of Royal City's production goes to Canada. Washington, Oregon and Idaho buy up the rest, and the domestic market is growing rapidly.

“You see more and more of our product in Moses Lake,” Aguilar said.

Aguilar has been at Royal City about three years. He started his Eldorado Stone career at Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., then spent some time at the now closed Georgia plant.

Aguilar is proud of the product. When installed properly, he said, it is difficult for the common eye to determine if it's artificial or natural stone.

“I love it,” he said.

The cost of artificial stone veneer to the contractor is $7-9 per square foot, Aguilar said. Real stone costs $12-15, he said.

According to Aguilar, production is up at all of the Eldorado Stone plants across the country.

The architectural stone veneer industry has experienced considerable growth in the last decade. The acceptance of stone veneer has moved to such a level that it is quickly absorbing market share from brick, wood and vinyl siding, stucco and other siding materials.

According to Aguilar, Royal City Eldorado Stone produces 400,000 square feet of stone veneer per month. He said the company expects a 50,000-square foot increase in the coming months.

There have been special orders to Japan or rough cut and custom veneer. Product from Royal City is being used across entirely new housing developments.

The artificial stone is made in panels that are two inches thick by four inches wide. They are made and shipped in six, 12 and 18-inch lengths so that installers are sure to have offset joints.

Eldorado Stone artificial stone veneer is made of a mix of aggregates, cement, pigment and additives. This mix is poured into molds with various rock shapes on the front side and paint of the desired colors.

The molds are then sent to the curing room for about 24 hours of drying. Afterward, the veneer panels are packaged and trucked to their destinations.