Trust is built over decades of clear communication, consistent presence, and genuine care for the land and the people around it. The Charlevoix plant has been part of life in northern Michigan since 1967, and the work of being a responsible neighbour here has never stopped.
The Charlevoix plant sits on the western shore of Lake Michigan, in a region defined by forests, freshwater, and families who have lived alongside this operation for generations. Community involvement here is shaped by that setting. Environmental stewardship and neighbour relationships are not separate priorities at this plant. They are the same priority, guided by the Our VC Way principles of Safety and Health and Sustainable Legacy.
We operate as an employer, investor, and neighbour in Charlevoix, which means maintaining an Open Dialogue with residents, responding to concerns about noise and air quality, and investing in the natural environment surrounding the plant. The Charlevoix facility holds ISO 14001 certification for Environmental Management, ISO 45001 certification for Occupational Health and Safety, and ISO 9001 certification for Quality Management, an integrated framework that treats these responsibilities as connected rather than separate disciplines.
The Charlevoix plant began operating in 1967, and the relationship between St Marys Cement and the surrounding community has grown steadily alongside it. From the beginning, the plant’s connection to this place has been rooted in the land: conservation partnerships, habitat stewardship, and a commitment to returning the landscape to productive use as quarrying activity concludes in each area.
St Marys Cement has developed a formal rehabilitation plan for the Charlevoix quarry site, covering erosion protection, water quality, and the reuse of surrounding infrastructure after the plant’s eventual closure. Planning for what comes after an operation ends while the operation is still underway is the kind of long-horizon thinking that distinguishes a company serious about its responsibilities to the place it occupies.
Across the Votorantim Cimentos North America (VCNA) network, our businesses have contributed approximately $1.6 million USD over five years to community causes focused on health and wellness, veterans and emergency services, and education. The Charlevoix plant is part of that broader investment.
Residents and stakeholders are encouraged to bring questions and concerns directly to the Charlevoix plant community contact. A local committee reviews incoming input, follows up on concerns, and shares updates on plant operations and environmental performance.
Open Dialogue is the principle that shapes how we engage with the communities around our operations. Questions get answered, concerns are tracked, and the people who live closest to this plant have a standing channel to reach the people who run it.
Environmental stewardship is at the centre of how the Charlevoix team invests in its community, and the record behind it is documented and sustained.
Charlevoix employees participated in a company-wide Earth Day effort that planted more than 1,000 trees across St Marys Cement sites, contributing to reforestation and habitat work that connects directly to the northern Michigan landscape surrounding the plant. Conservation stewardship extends across the facility’s 1,370-acre property along the Lake Michigan shoreline, where the plant has maintained wildlife habitat, participated in fish stocking programs with Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources, and supported bald eagle habitat restoration on plant land.
St Marys Cement is recognized as a leader in the progressive rehabilitation of the lands it uses, restoring quarried areas to active farmland and naturalized features as operations conclude. Learn and Evolve, one of the nine principles of Our VC Way, asks us not merely to meet regulatory requirements, but to build something worth leaving behind. In Charlevoix, that standard has been applied to every phase of this plant’s relationship with the land it occupies.
Openness builds confidence over time, and the Charlevoix plant makes its environmental reports, permits, compliance filings, and related public documents available here for review. These include data from the plant’s integrated environmental and safety management system, certified to ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001 standards.
United Materials
Superior Materials
Prairie Materials
Matériaux de construction Canada
VC Global