Beans & Rock Owner Rosalyn Erickson poses for a picture with her brother Michael during a busy but wet day at the rock pit. Erickson bounces back between the rock pit and her cafe to keep things moving along.
Hawk's Superior Rock began in 1987 behind the blood, sweat, and tears of Michael "Hawk" Runyon. Through hard work and determination the business has become one of the largest rock pits/quarries in the county. Nearly thirty years later a change of hands has taken place and Hawk's daughter Rosalyn Erickson has taking over ownership.
30 years later
Hawk had been contemplating retirement for the past several years and wanted the business to stay within the family. He decided to entrust the legacy to his daughter Rosalyn and son Michael. Rosalyn is the new owner and will manage the business side of the things while her brother will stay on sight at the rock pit to assist the operating aspects.
Many are aware that Hawk recently began his new adventure in life as a Pacific County Commissioner. The move however has come with controversy with many believing Rosalyn has only taken on the business to remove her father's conflict of interest of the county purchases of rock from the company.
"I know there is a lot of speculation and rumours going around," Rosalyn said. "But you have to be able to let it go and move on. If you're going to let rumours get to you, this area is not the place to be."
The Cafe
Taking over the rock business is only second nature for Rosalyn as she already operates the very successful 7th Street Coffee in Raymond. The cafe opened in 2015 after she decided she wanted to venture into the coffee business with her own taste of things.
"I have always loved coffee," she said. "It's always been my kind of thing so I thought why not give it a go. My dad helped me out with it and now 4 years later I feel like it's been a huge success. I could not be more pleased with how it has worked out."
7th Street Coffee has become one of the bigger success stories of recent start up businesses in the Raymond area over the past 10 years. Most business have tried and failed or couldn't get enough momentum to keep going. Each day the cafe is estimated to sell nearly hundreds of cups of joe and has become a major meeting point for interviews and business meetings. Traffic steadily flows through from open to close.
Beans & Rock
Now Rosalyn is bouncing back and forth between her cafe and the rock pit most days. She works to keep the cafe moving smooth and also spends time learning the ins and outs of the rock business. She has increased her knowledge by learning how all the equipment works so that she can understand every aspect and moving part of the rock side of things. "The other day I was in the loader with Brett showing me how it all worked," she said. "I want to know everything from top to bottom and everything in between. I want to know it all."
The future
Rosalyn admits she doesn't plan to change much about the rock side of her knew business because it has already become its own success story. She does however plan to get certified as a Woman Owned Business and Small Business Franchise which will open a whole new world of possibilities in the future. Both will help the business when it comes to state and federally funded projects. Other than that she just hopes to get the word out that citizens are also able to purchase rock from the pit too. "I don't think a lot of people are aware they can get a load of rock," she said. "So I hope to get the word out about that too."
The environment at the rock pit has been overwhelmingly positive during the change. According to Rosalyn the crew has been exceptionally helpful. Each moving piece appears to be in its place and she is excited for what the future will being.
"My dad worked really hard to get the business where it is today," she said. "I hope I can do right by him and his name. I want to make him proud because he put the trust in me to continue this on and keep it in the family. It's a lot of responsibility and I'm glad he trust me to do it."