Arrowstone, LLC Brings Art, History to Life in Cast Stone

Omaha, NE – The pride of craftsmanship is literally cast in stone at Arrowstone, LLC, the Lincoln company where owner Angel Huerta and his team use their skills to “bring art to life” through a wide range of unique architectural cast stone products.

“Whether it is a veteran’s memorial or a statue, as small as a piece of wall art or as large as a church archway, it all starts with an idea,” Huerta says. “Our job is to make the molds and cast the stone that will bring art to life. We want people to truly experience the art.”

Huerta started learning his craft at a stone company in Lincoln in 2007. “I grew to love it,” he recalls. “I found I had a passion for it. It didn’t feel like work. It was enjoyable for me.”

He started at an entry level position and worked his way up, “and I learned everything in between,” he says. “I learned both the good things and the bad, and I saw things that I thought could be improved.”

In 2018, Huerta began Arrowstone, LLC. The original location was in Lincoln, then moved to Roca, Neb., and then back to Lincoln, where Huerta and his team of nine employees, including his daughter and son, produce cast stone products that have been shipped and installed throughout the region and to customers in Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston.

Cast stone is used as a masonry product to provide architectural trim, ornamentation or functional features on buildings and other structures. It is a highly refined architectural precast concrete building stone manufactured to simulate natural cut stone. One of the oldest known types of concrete, cast stone is the most aesthetically refined form of concrete known today.

“The mold and pattern shop is the heart of our facility,” Huerta says. “Our craftsmen work from shop drawings previously approved by the architect or contractor to fabricate a pattern or model of the desired unit out of materials such as wood, plaster, fiberglass, clay or sometimes from existing stone or terra cotta pieces. These finished patterns become the model for making the production molds used in the actual casting process.”

In addition to working with a growing list of local artists, Huerta has partnered with the Nebraska Business Development Center (NBDC) and its APEX Accelerator program to tap into government contracting opportunities.

APEX Accelerator Consultant Quentin Farley has assisted Huerta on many government contracting processes and registrations, including his company’s System for Award Management (SAM) registration, North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)/Product and Service Code (PSC) research; Small Business Administration profile, capabilities statement and market research; BidMatch profile to receive notifications of government opportunities; small business officer and large prime contractors contact research; cybersecurity compliance and certification discussions on the HUBZone, 8(A) Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program.

“Angel continues to grow his business with local government contracts and large prime subcontracting opportunities,” Farley says.

Huerta says his team takes pride in every project. “They know what they help create will be part of the community for a very long time, and that many of our projects contribute to preserving history,” he says. “The care we put into the work we did at the Veteran’s Memorial Garden at Antelope Park in Lincoln, and in West Point and Fremont, is a reflection of the significance of the memorials.

“Not only will our work be seen by thousands of people,” he says, “we feel like we were doing something bigger than us; something that will last for generations.”