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2023’s Top 10 Under 40: Dale Martin, Arro Crushing

Dale Martin didn’t start out wanting to be in a leadership role, but when his friend, boss and owner of Arro Crushing Ltd., Jared Kuepfer, asked him to take on the role of crushing foreman eight months ago, he couldn’t say no. Now Martin says he’s learning to be a manager as he goes.

“That’s probably something I’m still working on. I’m still trying to figure out how to be a good leader, just trying to do better every day,” he says. “I’m just watching the team grow and trying to get trying to figure out what kind of work they’re capable of doing or want to learn to do and then I try and get them to do that kind of work.”

That kind of responsibility was the last thing on Martin’s mind when he started at Arro about 18 months ago.

“I left my old job, because I thought I was getting too much responsibility,” he laughs.

Taking on the new role doesn’t bother him though, knowing he has the trust and support of life-long friend Kuepfer who asked him to come on board at the company.

“Dale has shown incredible talent leading a crushing crew,” Kuepfer says. “He’s a very driven individual and will never settle with anything but a high standard of
workmanship.”

Kuepfer says that determination is what makes Martin stand out in any role he chooses, but for now he says he doesn’t see himself anywhere else.

“My favorite part about the job is probably running an excavator, and trying to see how many times a day we can get on the ground,” he said. “Every day is a new day. So just trying to do better than the day before and see what kind of improvements you can make either personally or for the company, or on the crusher. I’m just always trying to do better.”

Martin says working outside in the sunshine with good friends makes all the hard work worth it.

“I love working out in the sunshine and working side by side with a bunch of guys,” he says.

When he’s in the cab by himself, he prefers to have his headphone on, keeping up with the world around him.

“I listen to a lot of podcasts.”

For now, Martin is focusing on the job in front of him, although he doesn’t rule out taking the same path as Kuepfer and maybe owning his own company one day.

“As of right now, that looks pretty big to me, but it might happen. I don’t know,” he says.