Paul Post photo
By Paul Post
Peckham Industries has 17 hot-mix asphalt plants and 26 stone quarries in five states including a large operation on Vaughn Road in Kingsbury where crowds gathered recently to celebrate the fourth generation, family-owned company’s 100th anniversary.
“Not too many businesses make it to 100 years and less than three percent make it to the fourth generation,” said Damian Murphy, the firm’s president and chief executive officer. “It goes back to the values that have been there since the founder’s days. We talk about safety, integrity, dedication.”
“Be consistent,” he said. “Even though things are always changing, those values never change. People know that about our business, whether it’s our customers, communities or work force. They know they can trust us and that we’re here for the long term.
“The bigger story we like to talk about is the culture in our business,” Murphy said. “That’s what really differentiates us. One of the key phrases is, ‘Our word is our bond’.”
Recent large projects have run the gamut, such as paving a long stretch of the Northway from Schroon to North Hudson, and construction of large parking facilities in The Bronx and at UBS Arena where the NHL’s New York Islanders play.
The Kingsbury plant opened in 1962, one of the first in the nation to be operated as a batch and drum plant, and was replaced by a larger facility in 1985. The new plant’s first big asphalt supply was for a major paving job on the Northway in Saratoga County, from Exit 13 in Malta to Exit 9 in Clifton Park.
Founded by William H. Peckham in his tiny White Plains apartment, the company survived major economic downturns from the Great Depression to the Great Recession of 2008, and has withstood constant challenges from large multi-national competitors.
“We’re very conscious about investing back into the business,” Murphy said. “Even in tough times you’ve got to put money back in to be sustainable. We’re very deliberate about that investment. And you’re always trying to watch costs and trying to generate the best quality service to customers. You just have to be competitive.”
From just 10 employees in 1934, Peckham Industries now has a 1,200-member work force. In 2019, the company moved to modern new headquarters in Brewster, Putnam County.
Steady growth through the decades has been fueled by the acquisition of both small, family-run firms and large facilities including this year’s purchase of Gorman Group’s liquid asphalt terminal in Rensselaer, the largest privately-held terminal of its kind on the East Coast. The purchase creates additional opportunities in the New York and New England market, by supplying liquid asphalt to both internal and external hot-mix asphalt plants and emulsion mills.
“Liquid asphalt is the binder we put into the aggregate to make the pavement,” Murphy explained. “When you see a road being paved and it’s very black, that’s the liquid asphalt, that’s the binder. It’s brought in by rail, truck or water and mostly comes from refineries in the Midwest, Gulf states and Canada.”
Peckham’s territory covers eastern New York, from Chestertown to New York City, and western New England. From 2020 to 2023 it expanded with the acquisition of asphalt plants and quarries in Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Murphy, who has more than 30 years of construction industry experience, joined the company in 2021, a self-described “hired gun” to bridge the gap between former President and CEO John R. Peckham, now board chairman, and John’s youngest son, Gregory, the company’s general manager.
“I grew up in Ireland on a small farm and used to play in the quarries so it’s in my blood,” Murphy said. “I’m a mining engineer. I’m very passionate about the industry. There’s great people in it. We aren’t here just to earn a paycheck. We’re here to build America by doing what we do, providing infrastructure and resources.”
“With mining, we call it the ‘benefication’ of natural resources,” he said. “Using the earth’s resources in a good way by putting it into infrastructure, property or housing.”
The website www.zippia.com says Peckham had a peak revenue of $630 million in 2023. In-house work such as paving and construction services generates about 30 percent of the company’s business.
“We have probably 70 percent external customers who buy hot-mix asphalt, aggregate stone and concrete,” Murphy said.
Peckham’s plants supply numerous municipal highway departments with the asphalt needed to keep local roads and highways in good shape.
In 1959, Peckham Industries was created to manage the various family companies and operations the firm had acquired including Tri-County Stone Company, Glens Falls Blacktop Corp. and Kingsbury Asphalt Corp., which had all been purchased that same year.
During the recent 100th anniversary celebration, guests were treated to food and fun activities from punkin chunkin to tours of the 200-foot-deep quarry, showing various types of stone that have been excavated at different levels.
Peckham has held four other centennial events at various locations including one in New York City where all employees were invited to spend a weekend with their spouse. Guests were treated to a Friday night cruise around Manhattan, a complimentary hotel stay and a big corporate party at the Museum of Natural History.
The Kingsbury plant can load 72,000 pounds (36 tons) of asphalt in a trailer in less than 45 seconds and within 200 pounds.
Peckham Industries owns about 450 acres in Kingsbury, some of which is leased to local farmers and more is leased for a 15-megawatt solar field. In keeping with its commitment to environmental stewardship, the company supplied 40,000 tons of a special stone base, covered by porous pavement, to help keep stormwater runoff from reaching Lake George.
Like many employers, Peckham is somewhat challenged by the state’s and nation’s ongoing labor shortage.
“We’re trying to change the culture where it’s not just about males,” Murphy said. “We’re trying to include the female population, getting more women working in the industry, whether it’s in the quarries, out on a paver or working equipment. That’s a big population that traditionally hasn’t been in our industry. We’re trying to make it worthwhile for them to come to us as well.”
“Labor is certainly a challenge especially with the hours we work,” he said. “A lot of paving work is mandated now to do at night. At the plants, we start early in the morning. When you’re in season, from April to November, it’s go, go, go.”