Vecellio & Grogan: 70 Years of Integrity, Quality & Service (Continued)
(3rd Quarter 2008)
The launch of White Rock Quarries in the 1980s to directly compete with more established Miami mining companies made headlines throughout the industry.
Early issues of the VanGuard newsletter, originally created in the 1970s.
Earlier this decade, White Rock Quarries greatly expanded the capacity of its production plant and inbound/outbound truck scales. It also upgraded to a 105 cu. yd. dragline.
Leo Vecellio, Jr., with sons Christopher and Michael aboard a dragline at White Rock Quarries in the 1980s.
Vecellio & Grogan built a complex US-19 highway project on Powell Mountain in West Virginia in the 1990s.
The Next Generation
Leo Vecellio, Jr., joined the family business full-time in 1973 after serving four years as an officer managing construction projects in the U.S. Air Force. He had earned civil engineering degrees and worked with V&G during earlier years, so was able to help the company get through the oil embargo and difficulties with a newly acquired paving business. On the personal side, Leo married Kathryn Cottrill and they soon started their own family, welcoming sons Christopher, then Michael.
Recognizing the need to expand into new territories, in 1979 V&G founded a holding company to acquire and build new businesses in Florida. Leo Vecellio, Jr., was instrumental in the expansion process, eventually moving with Kathryn and the boys to Florida, establishing a southern headquarters to oversee the operations.
Integrity & Progress
Not many family-owned businesses last to a second generation, let alone the third or fourth, and even fewer reach the top tiers of their industries while maintaining the values of their founders.
After Leo Vecellio, Sr.’s death in 1996, Leo Vecellio, Jr., became CEO of the Vecellio Group, leading the company with the same high ethical standards that have been the cornerstone of its success since 1938. And earlier this decade, both Christopher and Michael joined the ranks after completing their graduate studies, representing a new generation of Vecellio leadership.
In addition, the Vecellio family continues to give back to the industries and communities in which they’re involved. Most recently, Leo Vecellio, Jr., has served as the 2007–2008 Chairman of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association. And earlier this year, Kathryn Vecellio served as gala chair person for the American Heart Association’s very successful annual “Heart Ball” fundraising event in Palm Beach, Fla. These activities continue a long tradition of giving that includes the creation of the Vecellio Family Foundation in 1972.