Christy Robinson’s Buckley business, Armadillo Construction and Parts, deals in enormous and expensive pieces of mining as well as quarry equipment and replacement parts for apparatus like rock crushers and sand washers.

“I have a good time on this job, I just love it,” said Robinson, who bought the Seattle-based company in 2002.

Although she has established clientele as nearby as Ravensdale’s and Enumclaw’s quarries, the lion’s share of her business comes from national and international mining/quarry corporations.

These varied operations run the gamut from Oregon, Utah, Indiana and Alaska to Chili, Peru and the Dominican Republic.

“Once in a while I’ll get some stuffy pencil-pusher who asks to ‘speak to a man,’ but most of my customers are meat-and-potato, blue-collar workers who are very respectful and really know how the business works,” Robinson said. “Over time I’ve come to know them and it is great to talk to people who get it. You can shoot the breeze with these guys about today’s events and how they’re lives are going.”

When she bought the business, Robinson initially moved it from Seattle to Auburn, near the small airport there, but between the noisy experimental aircraft and the skyrocketing rent, Robinson opted to relocate to Buckley.

“It is so much quieter here and the people are really friendly, too,” she said.

Robinson, who works out of space in the Buckley Business Park, is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The business phone number is 253-887-7869.

Reach John Leggett at jleggett@courierherald.com or 360-802-8207.