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GRANICOR INC. is a family-run
company that owns and manages granite quarries and factories
in North America .
Initially called National Granite, GRANICOR INC. was founded
by an energetic stone mason named Eugene Robitaille, who
had worked with stone on the construction of a number
of churches and public buildings. The Lac St-Jean area,
in the province of Québec, was experiencing a booming
economy as the aluminum and paper industries were growing
at a rapid rate, thus attracting more people to its towns
and creating demand for more stone buildings. The abundant
granite resources of that region and the increasing work
opportunities for Eugene Robitaille were good reasons
for him to move to the area where he raised his family
and started his business in 1922.
The Alma plant, in Lac-Saint-Jean, was constructed at
the edge of a quarry that yielded a black granite of excellent
quality which soon caught the attention of the Americans.
This was how the company started, little by little, to
export some of the world's most beautiful granites.
Despite the fire that completely destroyed the plant in
1947 and the difficult period during and after the war,
Eugène continued to believe in the potential of
the granite industry left no stone unturned in order to
secure his business future.
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In the early 1950's, after a one-year training period
at a prestigious granite company in New England, Eugène's
son, Paul Robitaille, joined forces with his father.
In 1957, after Eugène died, Paul took over the
small company and turned it around to create the single
most important granite producer/quarrier in Canada.
For the second time, the plant was destroyed by fire
in 1962. And for the second time, it rose from its ashes.
Projects such as the New York Telephone Company and
the CBS buildings constructed in New York in the 60's,
bear eloquent witness to the will of this amazing entrepreneur.
In the late 60's, the company started exporting blocks
to Japan Through Paul's visionary leadership, Granicor
emerged as an important international business and has
maintained a tradition of excellence and innovation,
thus upholding GRANICOR's position as a North American
leader in the granite industry. In the early 80,s, Paul's
vim and determination enabled him to build a technologically
advanced fabrication plant near Quebec City designed
to manufacture thin granite panels.
The World Financial Center in Battery Park New York,
the Fu Bon Ming Chen in Taipei, Taiwan, the Museum of
Modern Art (MOMA) in San Francisco, California, the
Tokyo Forum in Tokyo, Japan, the National Art Gallery
in Ottawa, Canada, and the Rysan Bank in Moscow, Russia
are only a few examples of world renowned architectural
masterpieces clad in GRANICOR granite.
Today, after over 50 years of devotion to his business
and to the industry in general, Paul E. Robitaille
has
retired as president of the company, but he still provides
counseling and guidance for GRANICOR, which is now
run
by a third generation which imparts
a spirited, future-oriented management style to the
enterprise.
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