Onyx Corporation

Onyx Corporation is a family-run Acton company that traces back to 1980, when John and Stacey Durkin started a trucking business that grew into sand-and-gravel, excavation, and landscape construction work; the company is now in its second generation with sons John Jr. and Cale active in day-to-day operations. It employs certified arborists and produces its own aggregates from company-owned pits. The landscaping and hardscape side of the business has a long, detailed run of praise. One 2026 review described a ten-year relationship in which Onyx transformed two properties from the ground up with patios and stonework, calling it one of the few companies in any field the reviewer would recommend so enthusiastically. Multiple older reviews from 2019 describe complete property relandscaping, custom stonework, and years-long maintenance relationships, with reviewers repeatedly citing the company's ethics, trade knowledge, and quality of both hardscape and planting work. There is a serious matter that has to be part of this picture. On August 22, 2024, a 67-year-old excavator operator was killed at Onyx's Sterling quarry when a section of rock ledge collapsed onto the machine he was operating; the company closed its Acton, Leominster, Westford and Sterling locations for several days afterward. Federal investigators later found "open and obvious" hazardous conditions at the site and cited the company for safety violations connected to the death. Separately, two 2024 Google reviews describe friction on residential jobs: one detailed more than 20 unanswered calls trying to get the company to move equipment off a neighbor's property during a job, and another called a scheduling interaction disrespectful. A 2025 employee review posted to Indeed alleged retaliatory conduct by a foreman toward workers — an unverified individual account, but a real one on record. BuildZoom notes Massachusetts does not require a contractor license for this type of work, which the company confirmed in 2018; separately, the company's civil site work includes projects like a town water main installation in Acton. For a homeowner, the landscaping craftsmanship documented here over many years is genuinely strong, but the 2024 workplace fatality and federal safety citation, alongside more recent equipment and communication complaints, are serious enough that anyone hiring should ask directly about current safety practices and project-site communication before signing on.