“He’s a consummate professional and a very
nice guy,” Green notes. “He’s knowledgeable in all the aspects of
dredging and applying those things in practical ways.”

“When I first came on, there were a few
members who really taught me how to organize one of these events,”
says Steve Lenker, NSSGA vice president of operations. “He was
instrumental in teaching us how to do our job. It was like a Supreme
Court appointment; we threatened to keep him here for life.”

Adds Joy Wilson, NSSGA president and CEO:
“What a superb choice Aggregates Manager has made in naming Steve
Hatfield as ‘AggMan of the Year!’ Steve is a leader in every sense
of the word. He has helped reinvent and revitalize

NSSGA’s Operations Division as its chairman
since the merger, and the association is stronger because of his
contributions. NSSGA is fortunate to have Steve’s dynamic and
energetic involvement.”

Staying on course

Through his long career, Hatfield has had a
front row seat to view many changes, including the merger of the two
associations and the acquisition of Ritchie Sand, Inc. But just as
he’s enjoyed wearing a wide variety of responsibilities, he sees the
positive aspects of those changes.

“Certainly, the thing that most people talk
about is the fact that there are larger companies with larger
spheres of influence,” he says. “Obviously, we’re going through that
here. That’s not a bad thing. It changes the face of the industry,
but it brings more resources to companies, so I see it as a plus.”

From an operational standpoint, those
resources are particularly valuable to sand and gravel operations
that may lag behind their crushed stone counterparts in terms of
production strategies such as automation.

“Any new sand producer is going to take a
hard look at automation,” Hatfield notes. “We’re using some
radio-frequency control and other things that are not on the leading
edge, but are a taste of things to come for the sand and gravel
industry. The larger the plant is, the more likely it is that
they’re going to become involved in the efficiencies that come from
automation and monitoring things with PC-based equipment.”

Blue skies ahead

On the personal front, Hatfield has been
married since 1968 and has two daughters, one of whom works as an
office manager at the Oxford plant. He also has two grandchildren.

While the fairways have no appeal for him,
airplanes and motorcycles do intrigue Hatfield. He and his wife
spend their free time traveling literally across the United States
in his Cessna 182 airplane. An avid pilot, Hatfield has logged 2,300
hours of flight time and has earned FAA certification as an aircraft
mechanic. “I had enough interest in aviation that I went to school
five nights a week for three years — now not as young, but still
foolish,” he says.

When Hatfield and his wife celebrated their
30th anniversary, they traveled on a small Alaskan cruise with about
100 other passengers. By the end of the journey, his shipmates had
dubbed him the Sand-Man Pilot, and the moniker is an appropriate one
for an individual who has enjoyed such high levels of professional
and personal success.

Reprinted from Aggregates Manager Magazine