About
About Stone Soup
Concrete is an essential part of our world. Modernity wouldn´t be so without it. At Stone Soup, we are bringing concrete in from the cold. Fusing metal and stone, structural strength with a tactile softness, the concrete we make can cement disparate elements into fully human and humane design.
At Stone Soup, we welcome the diversity of work that comes our way. We celebrate the collaboration each job implies. Every day is different, every project unique. We are capable of working out the finest details of an object´s design and then producing it to exacting specifications. Every project has possibility, both increasing the range of things we can provide and skilled professionals we can connect with. We view the nature of our work as essentially collaborative and alchemic.
Located in the heart of Massachusetts´ Pioneer Valley, Stone Soup Concrete serves all of New England, including Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, as well as New York, New Jersey, and parts of Pennsylvania.
Stone Soup grew out of the construction company Mike Paulsen & Mike Karmody co-founded to test Mike Paulsen´s patented Task toolbelt system design in the workplace. The toolbelt system was fully modular and allowed crews to work fluidly and creatively with each other. Both Karmody & Paulsen had a keen interest in materials, and were working on structures of considerable complexity; architectural duplication of ruined steeples was one of their specialties. So they were not surprised when concrete took their interest with the force of the history it represents. Thus Stone Soup Concrete was born. The company has evolved over the years. In 2010 Greg Bossie moved from California and joined the ranks at Stone Soup with a degree in architecture and experience in a variety of construction fields. Shortly thereafter Mike Karmody opted to pursue his other interest and step away from the daily grind of owning a business, allowing Greg to fill his shoes.
Stone Soup Concrete is an environmentally and community conscious company. Our practices include purchasing nearly all of our materials locally, using recycled glass in our concrete, and reusing and re-purposing everyday materials. Visit our Sustainable Practices section to get more information about what we do to minimize our impact on the environment and our Community Contributions section for more information on what we do to support our local community organizations.
Community Contributions
Stone Soup Concrete has been involved in several community support and service projects over the years, a few of which are listed below:
Hilltown Charter School
Stone Soup Concrete organized a silent auction and party to benefit the Hilltown Charter School. The event raised over $10,000.
Habitat for Humanity (2007)
Stone Soup Concrete has been very fortunate to be involved in two service projects for the local organization over the years. In the first project, kitchen countertops were donated for the home built for the Perry Family.
Fundraiser for Lydia Pepi (2008)
Stone Soup Concrete organized a silent auction and party to raise money for Lydia’s medical treatment after she was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. $14,000 was raised to help pay for her medical expenses and we are very happy to report she has been cancer free for 2 years!
Home for Our Troops
Stone Soup Concrete donated custom color concrete vanities with integral sinks for a home built for Officer Rooney who lost both of his legs serving our country in Iraq.
Easthampton Pavilion – Rotary Project (2011)
Stone Soup Concrete donated approximately $7,000 in concrete countertops for the Indoor/Outdoor Rotary Club Pavilion at Nonotuck Park.
Bear Fest (2012)
Stone Soup Concrete was a Panda Bear level sponsor for the 2012 Bear Fest put on by Easthampton City Arts+ in an effort to promote the arts and raise money for art programs at our local schools, the art programs at
Riverside Industries and future ECA+ events. Visit the Bear Fest page for more details about this city-wide art project in which life-sized fiberglass bears are transformed by artists. We sponsored Spirit Bear!
Occupy Sandy (2012)
After the storm passed and we saw the devastation of the New Jersey and New York coasts, we collected donations of clothing, cleaning supplies, toiletries, etc in coordination with Occupy Sandy to help with the relief efforts. Thanks to the incredible outpouring of support from our local community we were able to completely fill the box truck (TO THE BRIM!) and on November 24 delivered the donations to the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, NJ. We were mentioned in the Daily Hampshire Gazette.
Sustainable Practices
Stone Soup Concrete understand the importance of reducing our impact on the planet to ensure a healthy environment for future generations and all other life on the planet. We have long been dedicated to minimizing waste and creating eco-friendly products.
Stone Soup Concrete is a member of the US Green Building Council and can help you qualify for LEED points in your building projects.
Our practices include:
- All of our products are proudly made in Easthampton, Massachusetts by employees based here in the Pioneer Valley.
- We sourcing local materials whenever possible. The vast majority of our materials come from local companies including our sand and aggregate (65% of total material weight) from a sand pit only 5 miles from our shop.
- We use pulverized recycled glass as a pozzolanic material to replace up to 20% of our portland cement content.
- We use recycled glass in all of our glass terrazzo countertops, much of which comes from local stained glass studios as “breakage”.
- We minimize waste of forming materials by using durable materials that can be reused many times and using non-reusable materials as economically as possible.
- We recycle our beer bottles! We also recycle everything else they’ll take.
- Most importantly, we THINK about our impact on our environment and encourage you to as well.
