When approaching the township commissioners, Martin says, those involved in the quarry’s permitting process spoke with all the neighbors beforehand. Martin and his team presented each neighbor with artistic drawings of where the operation is currently located and where it will be. “This way they were all on board when we applied for the permit,” Martin says. “The biggest selling point is that we were hiding it from view.”

The screening helped, but it was the relationships that have been built throughout the community that really made a difference. Every year, Martin Stone Quarries sponsors “Shop with the Cops,” a charity event in which police officers go to two local schools in the area and choose needy kids to take shopping for Christmas. Martin Stone Quarries donates its own merchandise, such as hats and shirts, and then gives the police department about $5,000 to use for the shopping trips.

“We’ve been here for more than 55 years so we have some really good relationships,” Martin notes. “The screening helped, but having the community see how active we are was really important. We are active with the schools and local youth baseball. We aren’t invisible to our community. We always try to help out where we can.”