Carver Sand & Gravel to Get New Owners

Carver Co. Sells Mining, Trucking, Enters Partnership with Heidelberg Materials

By David Avitabile

MIDDLEBURGH — Carver Sand & Gravel, the Capital Region’s largest aggregate producer, has a new owner.

Carver Sand & Gravel, owned by Carver Laraway, will no longer operate mining sites in Ephratah, Ashland, Coeymans, and Middleburgh, in addition to three pits and a 70-truck fleet under a new deal with Heidelberg Materials, a German building materials conglomerate, it was announced earlier this week. Heidelberg plans to start a new business partnership with parent corporation Carver Companies, which, in part, Heidelberg will acquire all assets from the mining operation.

The sale price has not been disclosed.

Since 1996, Carver Sand & Gravel has been regionally owned and operated under the leadership of Altamont businessman Carver Laraway, who is originally from Huntersland.

It was announced that the company’s approximately 200 employees will remain in place, and the sale is expected to close this week. The operation will be rebranded over the next six months.

“We built Carver Sand and Gravel from scratch into a successful mining operation with a strong market position in our corner of New York. While this is a big step for our company, partnering with Heidelberg Materials comes with incredible upside for everyone,” said Mr. Laraway, President and CEO of Carver Companies and the Port of Coeymans.

“This is the perfect fit for Carver Sand and Gravel employees, whose expertise will be key to Heidelberg Materials’ plans in the Capital Region. And it’s the perfect fit for Carver Companies as we focus on expanding our maritime divisions. Joining forces with Heidelberg Materials unlocks opportunities along the Hudson River, into New York City and beyond that could have taken years to materialize on our own.”

In a statement, Mr. Laraway said, “Moving a few of these other things off to the side and letting them be handled by another [company], like Heidelberg, which is their core business” will help propel the business’ other ventures forward.

Since being founded in 1989, Carver Companies has grown to boast four divisions and 11 subdivisions. They include: materials, real estate development, construction and maritime. Carver Companies was instrumental in the building of the Valley Mark in Middleburgh and the nearby Middleburgh Meadows condos.

Mr. Laraway said he has no plans to retire, but added that the sale was advantageous from an estate planning standpoint and it also fit in with Heidelberg’s goal of expanding in New York.

Carver's maritime division has a fleet of more than 50 tugboats and barges, and currently generates more than half of all revenue for the industry player.

Under the new agreement just announced, Carver Companies will handle maritime, tug-and-barge and logistics services for Heidelberg. In exchange, the company will handle trucking for Carver. The new owners will continue to use Carver barges to haul their material down the Hudson River, officials said.

The move is intended to expand Heidelberg’s port access in New York and across the East Coast. Carver's owns the Port of Coeymans and a marine terminal in South Carolina.

Officials said that sale talks between the two companies began about six months ago and the transition is expected to take another six months.

Heidelberg is one the world’s largest integrated building materials manufacturers, and has about 57,000 employees and 600 quarries across 50 countries. In North America, the company has a subsidiary based out of Irving, Texas. It already has work locations in St. Johnsville, Glens Falls and the town of Catskill in New York State.

Carver Companies is best known in the Capital Region for its port operations, which offers stevedoring, tugboat and barge transportation as well as steel works such as welding and vessel repairs. The port has emerged as a key component in New York’s push to build offshore wind towers near Long Island, with components of those arrays slated to be built at the port and barged down the Hudson River. They also operate a port in Charleston, S.C.

Carver’s sand and gravel operations is the Capital Region’s largest producer of aggregate, or building materials. They have a fleet of 80 trucks and 100 trailers, which will go to Heidelberg. Carver also has gravel pits or quarries in Middleburgh, Johnstown, Ashland, Ravena, Gilboa, and Waterford, as well as other facilities in Fultonville and Altamont.