Perry Thompson, CEO of Hat Creek Construction & Materials, sat down with KJDX radio in Susanville on July 26 to talk about the Skyline Aggregate & Recycling Facility, the project he described as the foundation of the company's next half century in Lassen County.
“It's our next 50 years. It's a huge deal,” Thompson said.
The reason for the move is simple geology. Hat Creek's current quarry at Ward Lake has plenty of rock, but it's soft rock that doesn't meet the specifications for asphalt and concrete, and less than ten years of good material remains.
“What we're really doing with Skyline is just ensuring our company's success for the next 50 years, and to be able to operate in these rural communities that we call home,” Thompson said.
The rock at Skyline is a different story. Denser rock absorbs less oil in asphalt production, which lowers costs on public works bids that he noted “are decided by sometimes less than half a percent.” That competitive edge protects existing Hat Creek jobs, from quarry crews to truck drivers to construction teams, and positions the company to grow its local workforce.
That growth matters. Thompson pointed out that Lassen County's population has dropped 20 percent since its 2010 peak, straining local businesses and schools.
“Minimum wage jobs are great. I'll take any job we can get in this community,” he said. “But I think the ones that we really need to lean hard into are the ones that are family sustaining wages… [Skyline] isn't going to solve all of our problems, but we're trying to do everything we can to move in the right direction.”
The 755-acre property sits on the northeast side of Skyline between Johnstonville Road and Highway 139, and Hat Creek has dedicated 300 of those acres as a buffer between the facility and Lassen Community College. Thompson noted that quarry truck traffic already travels through the area from Ward Lake, and the new location routes trucks to Highways 139 and 395 past fewer homes.
On the environmental side, Hat Creek has spent five years working through the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process, including a full environmental impact report.
“We're mitigating every significant issue,” Thompson said.
He framed the facility as something bigger than a company investment. Before Hat Creek arrived in 2009, roughly 90 percent of the area's asphalt came from Reno and the rest from Chester, meaning local infrastructure dollars flowed out of the county.
“How we view it is that it's a community asset, and that we're stewards of a community asset,” Thompson said. “Everything that's growth-oriented starts with aggregates.”
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