Earlier this year, Pit & Quarry managing editor Jack Kopanski traveled to Arizona for the National Demolition Association’s Annual Convention & Expo, as well as a tour of a Goodfellow Corporation facility in El Mirage. Goodfellow’s Blake Anderson recently paid P&Q a visit to discuss his career in the industry, his time with Goodfellow and how producers are faring in Arizona.
Tell me about your career in the aggregate industry to this point.
I started my career as a seasonal quality control technician for CRH in Utah. After three seasons, I got a job for a locally owned producer called TM Crushing. My role was to develop and maintain a quality control program. In a short period of time, I was promoted to a sales/assistant management position. During that time, I was exposed to every aspect of crushing and screening, further adding to my on-the-job education.
In time, I became ready for a new challenge and accepted a position selling screens and castings for Unified Screening & Crushing in Utah. Finding that sales is where I wanted to be and wanting to be a stronger partner for the producers, in 2018, I accepted a position as an outside sales representative for Goodfellow Corp. in Arizona.
After spending over four years building relationships, gaining trust and respect from the customers I was asked to take on the role of Arizona sales manager. Now I get the pleasure of sharing my past experiences and passion for the industry with our sales team. I enjoy being part of Goodfellow Corp. and am particularly fond of the relationships we have developed in Arizona.
What has your experience been like working with Goodfellow? What has it been like working in the region?
Goodfellow is a great company to work for that truly cares about its customers and employees. It is a family-owned business that has grown tremendously in the last few years and has been very aggressive in all the markets they operate in. Arizona was a new market for us and, so far, we are a big part of the companywide growth.
Arizona has some of the most challenging crushing applications in the U.S. Some of the rock can reach as high as 80,000 psi, and it is extremely abrasive. Then, you go north, and you’re in a cinder pit that is completely different. That diversity is what makes Arizona unique.
How is the construction industry doing in Arizona? How is federal funding coming through in the state? Are more infrastructure projects starting or in planning?
It feels like construction has not slowed down and demand is still on the rise for equipment. Arizona has been very fortunate to be the home for several tech manufacturers and large warehousing hubs, which have been driving the growth. Talking with producers, the next year or so looks pretty stable. I’m not sure what projects are being funded through the infrastructure bill, but there is a lot of road construction and infrastructure upgrades in process and on the horizon.
Goodfellow is in an interesting position, serving as an equipment dealer while also manufacturing some of its own parts and equipment. What are the benefits of having a presence in each realm?
As long as I have doing business with and working for Goodfellow, they have been a full-service dealer. Having the ability to take a project from a greenfield to a full aggregate production site really sets us apart from our competitors
We have a full-time engineering staff, as well as our own product specialists, and we manufacture at three of the five locations. We can design, build and modify almost anything the customer wants. Pairing this with our Astec and CDE equipment lines gives us a full array of offerings that cover every aspect of crushing and screening. It’s also nice that if we need emergency parts or machine work, we fab something and can turn it around quickly to get the customer up and running.
