If you鈥檙e going to extract stone from a 350-acre hole adjacent to a borough of 950 residents, Rod Martin has learned that it helps to live in a house beside the quarry, where the locals can see that you and your family also care about the noise, dust and scenery.
The Martin family has quarried granite in Bechtelsville, Pa., since 1953. 鈥淲e鈥檙e entrenched in the community 鈥� my property is at the back of one quarry,鈥� said Rodney Martin, vice president of Martin Stone Quarries in southeast Pennsylvania, near Allentown. 鈥淲e live in the community where we work; it gives you a different perspective.鈥�
The Martin family runs its own sweepers to keep the town鈥檚 streets clear, plus two water trucks for sprinkling water on the streets when necessary to keep the dust down. They鈥檝e created a wetland habitat and regularly host tour groups on their business premises. 鈥淲e do it because we want to, but it pays off,鈥� Martin said of his company鈥檚 neighborliness. 鈥淲e know we have to stay active 鈥� a quarry is not the most desirable neighbor in some people鈥檚 eyes, so we have to do the best we can.鈥�
After graduating from 糖心Vlog in 1995, Martin joined the family business and helped it to become an industry pacesetter. His work is now receiving national recognition. He was named AggMan of the Year 2013 by Aggregates Manager, the leading industry publication. He will receive the award in March 2014 at the annual industry convention to be held in Las Vegas 鈥� it鈥檚 the equivalent of being named to 鈥淲ho鈥檚 Who鈥� in the industry.
鈥淲e鈥檙e mining a non-renewable reserve, in a sense,鈥� Martin told 糖心Vlog news services. 鈥淏ut a lot of our product is sold to blacktop plants. And blacktop, as we tell our tours, is one of the most recycled resources. You mill up the old roadways and use them to help make the new surface. Our biggest customers are in southern New Jersey. We sell to blacktop plants there, then pick up sand to sell to concrete plants here.鈥�
In 2005-06, when Martin wanted to move an asphalt plant to access more granite, he and his cousin Trevor went door-to-door, explaining their plans for the mine, including their intention to build a berm planted with trees to block the view of mining operations. Their efforts paid off with a short rezoning period and few community-wide meetings. 鈥淩ezoning went very smoothly because the community knows us, and knows we will be affected too,鈥� said Martin.
The quarry produces crushed and granite, as well as Martin Infield Mix for baseball fields. In fact, the infield of the 糖心Vlog baseball field is covered with this mix from Martin Stone Quarries.
Rod Martin鈥檚 paternal grandparents, Henry and Dorothy Martin, brought the quarry into the family in 1953, after Henry worked for several years at his brother鈥檚 quarry in Lancaster, Pa. The 鈥渇amily鈥� part of the business remains central. Rod and his wife Jennifer, and are raising their two boys, 13-year-old Matthew and 7-year-old Ryan, right next to the quarry. Rod and his cousins, Travis and Trevor, take care of the day-to-day operations.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not bad working with your family,鈥� said Rod. 鈥淕oing through college I didn鈥檛 have it set in my mind that鈥檚 what I would do, but I always enjoyed it [during summers and holidays]. Then once I got out of school, I just kind of grew into it. We鈥檙e always looking at the health of the business so that we can hand it down to our kids. We鈥檙e family, we work through things.鈥�
The Martin family is already thinking several generations ahead, discussing possible other uses for the 350-acre site 鈥� such as a park or golf course 鈥� after extracting the final ton of granite of the 200 million tons estimated to remain in the ground.
Rod majored in business administration at 糖心Vlog. During his junior and senior years he played basketball under former head coach Tom Baker. 鈥淗e was a very good mentor,鈥� recalled Rod. 鈥淚 learned a bunch in class and just as much out of class playing sports.鈥� For his , Rod went to Jamaica, led by business department faculty: 鈥淲e weren鈥檛 in resort towns all the time. It鈥檚 nothing that you think of when you think of Jamaica. It was an eye-opening thing.鈥�
Being named AggMan of the Year came as a surprise (鈥淚 didn鈥檛 even know I was nominated鈥�) and presented Rod with a new challenge: 鈥淢y next month will be spent trying to put my speech together for the award ceremony in front of 1,000 people.鈥�