Q&A with Rogers Group Inc.—Reostone Quarry—2023 Platinum Community Relations Award Winner

Allison Boshears

By Allison Boshears, Rogers Group Inc.

 

What is the most memorable community relations project that Reostone Quarry has taken on?
In 2010, Nashville experienced a historic flood causing incredible damage across the city. This extensive damage included the failure of a natural barrier separating Richland Creek from RGI’s Reostone Quarry. In just five hours, the failure turned the quarry pit into a 42-acre lake, washing away the creek bottom, the rock barrier and fissures, two truck sewer lines, and the quarry wall supporting the road in its wake.

 

This once-in-a-millennium natural disaster hit on a Friday morning and by Saturday afternoon, a substantial portion of West Nashville was underwater. Residents could only access their homes by boat. By Sunday afternoon, the high wall of the quarry had given way, filling the pit with roughly 5.2 billion tons of water but saving neighbors’ lives in the process.

 

A levee, utilizing the site’s natural resources, housed the new sewer system, protecting the quarry from catastrophic flooding and creating a new path for Richland Creek. The construction of the levee continued until it reached the elevation of the flood. The 15-foot-wide clay core is covered with a load-distributing geotextile fabric and interlocking rock payer, allowing rapid draining for future storms.

 

If the flood had occurred on a weekend, the neighborhood would have been ruined and, even more catastrophic, neighbors could have potentially lost their lives. As a token of their appreciation, the neighborhood built a permanent monument to commemorate the event. The monument consists of a giant rock hooked to a wooden float, standing in a local park as a continual sign of thanks.

How have you adapted your community relations efforts overtime? Have you seen an increase in the effort?
Nashville has seen tremendous growth over the past decade resulting in new community members at the rate of approximately 100 new residents per day. With this tremendous growth, RGI’s company-wide commitment to the community has never been more imperative. Aggregates is a quiet, sometimes unduly secretive industry. With that understanding, it’s important to build lasting relationships within our community. Our Reostone location offers annual community barbecues, allowing neighbors, elected officials and partners to attend and voice their hopes, concerns and opinions for our community. In addition, we partner with council members and government officials to plan and execute these initiatives to make them a reality.

 

Has your community relations helped with any issues or challenges in the local community?
In the past year, RGI, as a company has invested in a more dynamic, integrated approach to our communications strategy, focusing predominantly on emphasizing the role of RGI as a member of our community instead of a business operating adjacent to the community.

 

As a member of our community, we want to be the go-to resource when needs are identified. Whether that need be loads of rock to renovate a local baseball field, repave the community center parking lot or sponsor your child’s peewee baseball team, we want the first thought in our neighbor’s mind to be, "I know someone at Rogers Group can help."

 

Speaking candidly, issues will always arise. Our community members and neighbors need to know that we will always listen and do everything in our power to help assuage any issue they may have.

 

When your community knows they can come to you, no matter the issue, you become their first contact, allowing for both awareness and action, before the issue compounds itself into a true community concern.

 

How does Reostone utilize social media to amplify community relations efforts?
We use social media to foster community trust and cohesion by creating a sense of belonging, identity and solidarity among our community. We use social media to facilitate communication, interaction and collaboration among our audience, as well as to celebrate company culture, employee achievements and more. We can tell our story quickly and efficiently without leaving room for interpretation or misrepresentation.

 

What is a piece of advice you’d give to another operation wanting to either get engaged or expand their community relations efforts?
Don’t be afraid to tell your story.

 

It’s simple. People don’t care about your bottom line or your month-end numbers; people care about people. They care about real stories about real people. Post a highlight of your history, your community involvement, employee experiences, anything!

 

Devote a portion of your budget, small or large, to community involvement. A good rule of thumb: find out what your employees are passionate about (youth sports, technical training, etc.) and devote that portion of your budget into supporting their passions. Sponsor the baseball team’s uniforms, advertise in the community play program, submit your branded haul truck as a float in the Christmas parade, anything! Good community involvement is not only simple, but often, it’s pretty affordable.