The to-do list of a startup founder is varied and busy. Just ask Justin Crowe.
On Wednesday, the Parting Stone CEO and founder celebrated with state and local officials who pledged new economic incentives to help Parting Stone hire for newly created sales, marketing and production roles at the Santa Fe-based company.
And then, Crowe got ready to fly off. Literally.
The first stop was Seattle, where Crowe has a Thursday afternoon pitch session at an investor conference organized by Keiretsu Forum, a global investment network with over 3,000 accredited private equity investors, venture capitalists, family offices and corporate/institutional investors. From there, he will attend the 104th annual cremation innovation convention in Atlanta. Sponsored by the Cremation Association of North America, Parting Stone will be one of the dozens of exhibitors.
"I have a really amazing team of people who are very good at their jobs and allow me to focus on the most urgent thing so we can get what we need to done," Crowe told Albuquerque Business First while on the road to the airport to catch his flight to the Pacific Northwest.
Earlier in the day, state and local officials announced the Santa Fe company would receive $150,000 in state Local Economic Development Act incentives while the city of Santa Fe pledged an additional $25,000 in local assistance.
Local Economic Development Act incentives — also known as LEDA — are used to grow existing New Mexico businesses and recruit others to the state. Combined, the money will help Parting Stone grow from 20 employees to more than 100. The added jobs will pay an average salary of $48,000.
Santa Fe will act as the fiscal agent for the incentives, which are pending approval by the Santa Fe City Council.
“Parting Stone has done a brilliant job of recognizing a deep human need and developing an important business to meet that need, sensitively and artfully," Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber said in a prepared statement.
Parting Stone uses cremated ashes and "a small amount of binder" to create a material that is heated and hardened. Once processed, the cremated remains are cleaned, polished and returned to the family, according to Parting Stone. The result is a design solution and a platform for memorial experiences for families who have lost a loved one, Crowe said.
Crowe teamed up with Chris Chen, a ceramic engineer at Los Alamos National Laboratory, to develop the technology which forms the foundation of the business.
"One of our biggest goals is for people to know that when they choose cremation, they have options," said Crowe, who has a background in pottery and holds a bachelor's degree in art.
But, he said, he soon learned that he enjoyed bringing creativity to business as opposed to making pottery to sell.
"I've been in business my whole life. In first grade, I was creating name tags and selling them back to kids for a quarter," he said. "I've always had an interest in [a] cross between business and creativity and how the two intersected."
Over the course of nearly three years, Parting Stone has worked with 4,000 families to create memorials of their loved ones. While Crowe wouldn't disclose company revenue, he did say the company's revenue increased 135% between 2020 and 2021. They were just named one of Business First's 2022 Fastest Growing Companies.
New Mexico Angels has invested in Parting Stone, said Max Walukas, the operations director.
Crowe said Parting Stone has raised $500,000 through a seed round, $500,000 through a seed-plus round and $500,000 via a convertible note. The company also secured an $800,000 loan from the New Mexico Finance Authority, among other investments.
The incentives announced on Wednesday are just the latest that Parting Stone has been able to secure. Since July of 2020, the company has received four separate allocations from New Mexico's Job Training Incentive Program totaling nearly $428,000.
Created in 1972, the Job Training Incentive Program helps pay for on-the-job or classroom training for newly created jobs for businesses either relocating or expanding their presence in New Mexico, according to EDD’s website. After the training is complete, the program reimburses 50 to 75% of employee wages, with higher reimbursement for rural, high-wage positions and to companies hiring recent New Mexico graduates and veterans.
The latest JTIP money came in April in the form of $134,000 to train 15 people at an average wage of $21.67 per hour.
Since forming in the fall of 2019, Parting Stone has built relationships with about 600 funeral homes across the United States and Canada. One of those is Albuquerque-based French Funerals.
"Their alternative to cremated remains has given the families we serve a way to memorialize their loved ones," French Funerals' Tom Antram said in a prepared statement."
Parting Stone is one of 56 businesses across New Mexico to receive Local Economic Development Act incentives since January 2019 to help their company grow.
It was named one of New Mexico Inno's series of Startups to Watch for 2022 and was an inaugural recipient of Albuquerque Business First's and New Mexico Inno's Fire Awards, which highlight innovative organizations across the state.
This story has been updated to correct the amount that New Mexico Angels has invested in Parting Stone.
