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Slippery rock Gazette
Vermont Verde
Continued from page 25
Because the serpentine origi- nated as small scraps of ocean crust, the serpentine deposits are found in pockets, rather than in a continuous layer. Vermont Verde’s original quarry taps into one pocket, and the new quarry is aiming for another one.
One of the ‘Little Guys’
As the crew prepares the next section of the quarry, Tom and his team continue to work the origi- nal hole. “we’re nearing the best of the area” says Tom. “Mike firmly believes that some of the best deposit is down there.”
Mike Solari is among the tight- knit crew of eight people who work at the Vermont Verde quarry. With 26 years of experi- ence, he’s of enormous value to the company. “It’s a great place to work,” he says, “the Fabbiolis are a great family, a lot of fun to work with.” Their connection is easy to observe, even on a Zoom call.
The leadership team of Vermont Verde has a distinctly different feel than most others. There’s vis- ible pride as Tom describes their operation as “one of the little guys.” Many of today’s quarries tend to be owned by large com- panies with substantial resources. But Tom’s path is different. “I started out as a cabinet maker,” he says modestly. He first went into business for himself at the tender age of 21, and he bootstrapped his way into general contracting, then renovating historic buildings. “I did it with all my own working capital,” he says.
With dreams to buy a quarry, he began scouting. “I went around the world looking for different quarries,” he recalls.
Tom first bought a stone fab- rication shop in Barre, Vermont, which eventually led him to the Verde Antique quarry. “It was not a straight line, let’s put it that way,” he says. Indeed, one could even say it was a serpentine path that led him to the beautiful, deep hole in Rochester.
Through all the chapters in his career, Tom’s foundational phi- losophy becomes evident. “I have always produced something where the customer’s expecta- tions were met or exceeded. And when you do that, you always
seem to have work. You always seem to be busy.”
Nowadays, Tom doesn’t need to shoulder the entire burden; his three sons all work in the busi- ness. “I have worked with my father hand in hand since I can remember,” says Peter.
Both Peter and Tom consider Mike to be an honorary member of the Fabbioli family. “We have a wonderful quarry and we’re happy to have purchased it,” says Tom, “but having Mike part of the family business here has been— it’s better than the quarry. You know? He is a wonderful, won- derful asset.”
“It can’t get more white...”
A quarry operation can do a lot to ensure success, but it can’t control the aesthetic whims of the market. In recent years, kitchen design has leaned strongly toward
white, grey, and neutral col- ors. The move away from satu- rated colors has been “a negative impact on us,” says Tom.
When manufactured quartz entered the marketplace, it pushed the trend even father toward col- orless surfaces.
Tom recounts their internal con- versations about design trends: “I would say, ‘It can’t get more white than it is now.’ And sure as hell...”
Peter chimed in, and father and son finished the sentence in perfect harmony: “It got more white!”
Nevertheless, Mike points out that the stone’s enduring history is a bigger benefit than the col- or-du-jour. “Verde Antique was used in so many commercial proj- ects, so a lot of restoration work is going on now.”
In the meantime, the chlorite schist that was excavated for road repair may prove to be another color option the company can offer. It has a subtle, silky glint of mica and a grey-green, muted color that would be at home in contemporary designs.
Northward Migration and Local Devotion
Regardless of the ebbs and flows of stone fashion, Tom and his crew recognize their stron- gest market is the one closest to home. “We have a wonderful cli- entele, noting that dedicated cus- tomers are mostly local but come from all over. “We have custom- ers that will go out of their way— we’ve had people coming in from California and all around the country.”
Spurred by the pandemic, the local market expanded as peo- ple migrated northward, away from the more populous parts of the eastern seaboard. This fueled a steady stream of work and a strong interest in Vermont Verde. “People wanted to come to the showroom. People wanted to see it,” recalls Tom. Peter adds, “All the fabricators we were talking
December 2021|29 to, they were gung-ho through the
whole pandemic.”
Tom “I think the reality is peo- ple look at our stone and there is a draw – there is something they feel – whether they remember it from something old or wherever this connection comes from, but I think that’s only developing in a more positive way.”
As a lifelong Vermonter, Mike appreciates the bond of the local culture, “That’s a big thing here in New England. They love buy- ing local stones. We have a lot of fabricators that are regu- lars. Somebody comes into their shop and they say, “Look at this Verde Antique. It comes out of Vermont. It’s nearby.” People like it for that reason and the fab- ricators like it also,” he says. “It’s a big, big thing.”
Karin Kirk is a geologist and science educator with over 20 years of experience and brings a different perspective to the stone industry. Karin is a regular con- tributor to usenaturalstone.com and the Slippery Rock Gazette. Contact her at karinkirk@gmail. com .
Site development photo from 1991 documents quarry access ramp.