This week on Trades Talk, Justin White sits down with Peter Lemon, CEO and President of Graniterock, the 126 year old vertically integrated construction and aggregates company headquartered right here in Watsonville. From the Wilson Quarry, the largest hard rock quarry this side of the Mississippi, to bridges, roads, asphalt, concrete, and logistics across the Bay Area and Central Coast, Graniterock has helped build the infrastructure of an entire region.

In this conversation, Peter shares the leadership principles, capital strategy, and culture of innovation that have kept Graniterock thriving across three centuries of work. He breaks down how safety became the foundation of their culture, how saying yes to every opportunity took him from intern to CEO, and what it actually takes to lead a workforce through wave after wave of technology change.

In this episode, we cover:

Peter's biggest takeaway is simple. Take care of your people, communicate change clearly, mitigate their concerns honestly, and the rest will follow. Whether the technology is a new loader, a robotic mower, or an AI agent, the companies that win are the ones that bring their people with them.

If you are building a trades business that you want to last for decades, or you are wrestling with how to lead your team through this next wave of technology change, this episode is full of lessons from someone running the playbook for 126 straight years.

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