At that point, Hatfield was traveling 100
miles every other day to finish his bachelor’s degree in industrial
technology and working on days he wasn’t in class. “Looking back,
you do all kinds of bizarre things when you’re young and don’t know
any better,” he laughs.

Through his career path, he’s worn numerous
hats including maintenance foreman, production and maintenance
manager, and general manager. “It went from part-time to full-time
to becoming foreman in five years and becoming a general manager in
another five years,” he says. “That background allowed me to do
essentially everything here. Through my career, I’ve run all of the
equipment. I have a basic understanding of everything from the
dredge to the plant.

“The guys are still amazed when, once in a
while, we get into a situation, and I go out to a loader and load
trucks for a day,” Hatfield adds. “My job has become administrative
now, so I don’t do the hands-on, fun stuff as much as I used to.”

Currently, Hatfield’s role is much more
management oriented. He oversees permitting, sales and marketing,
and operations at Ritchie’s three sand plants. He also had a chance
to put his technical skills to work as he designed the operations,
including the entire Wichita plant, which is a 2.0
million-ton-per-year facility.

The constantly evolving nature of the
business and his role within it keep Hatfield fully engaged in his
work. “There’s no handbook to tell you how to run these businesses,”
he says. “There are no two days — rarely two hours — that are the
same. If you’re a person who likes to figure things out, though,
this is a great business.”

A longtime member of the Ritchie executive
committee, he has spent the last six months working through due
diligence procedures as Ritchie operations were sold to Lafarge
North America’s Aggregates Division last month.

Prior to the acquisition by Lafarge,
Hatfield had been through the consolidation process as Ritchie Sand
made its own acquisitions. Five years ago, Ritchie Sand acquired the
Ark River Sand Plant in Oxford, Kansas. That plant produces up to
1.0 million tons per year and serves as the company’s rail shipping
facility. A second acquisition was made about a year and a half ago
in Coweta, Oklahoma.

While all three operations are located along
the Arkansas River, the Coweta plant — which serves the Tulsa market
— is the only one involving excavation in the river itself, rather
than in the flood plains.

“We basically bought equipment. The fellow
who was down there kind of lost interest. He had the permits and he
had the equipment, but wasn’t really doing much,” Hatfield says.
“We’re building that business almost as a greenfield.”

Going the distance

Looking back at the first 37 years of his
career — Hatfield plans to work for at least another decade — he
says that one of the biggest reasons why he has stayed in the
industry is the people.

“There are some great people working for me,
and they’re the reason why we’re successful,” he says, adding that
“the Ritchies have allowed me to get involved in the state and the
national level, and that’s added a whole new dimension.”

For more than 20 years, Hatfield has been
involved with the Kansas Aggregate Producers Association. During
that time, he has served on the state association’s safety and
environmental committee, its board of directors, and as its
president.