Industy Watch
Published in: Pacific Builder and Engineer
Date: 8/6/2007
Hertz Equipment Rental Corp. hosted the grand re-opening of its Medford general rental facility on June 7. The event showcased the facility’s renovated showroom and newly expanded product line, which includes small tools, equipment and contractors’ supplies.
HERC’s Medford location now offers a broad range of new products, including roto-tillers, floor sanders and buffers, trenchers, paint sprayers, ladders, pumps, and scaffolding. In addition to the newly expanded product line, HERC Medford still offers a wide assortment of construction and industrial equipment from manufacturers such as Case, Genie, Ingersoll Rand, JLG, John Deere, Wacker, and Stihl.
At the HERC Medford grand re-opening, vendor demonstrations and literature were available, along with a free lunch provided by Star Catering and giveaways. HERC management participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and on-air talent from local radio station 95.7 KBOY broadcasted live from the event.
Billings, Mont. – The Ditch Witch of Montana dealership has been purchased by longtime Charles Machine Works employee Dave Hubble and his wife, Joan .
Ditch Witch of Montana has its headquarters in Billings – in the same location since 1975 – and a branch in Missoula. The dealership serves Montana and northern and central Wyoming, providing sales, service and rental of new and used underground construction equipment, including trenchers, plows, horizontal directional drills, compact utility equipment, and electronic guidance and locating equipment.
Dave and Joan Hubble serve as the dealership’s president and vice president, respectively. Rounding out the management team are Mark Frey, customer service manager, Padraic “Pod” Moriarty and Jay Ellis, equipment sales, and Ron Kostelecky, parts manager.
Dave Hubble began his career in 1977 as a factory representative at Charles Machine Works headquarters in Perry, Okla. In 1980 he moved to Phoenix, Ariz., to become sales manager for a Ditch Witch dealership, and a year later moved to Tucson to become the general manager of Ditch Witch of Southern Arizona. In 1984, he returned to Perry and stayed for 23 years, holding a variety of positions with CMW before assuming his new responsibility at the Ditch Witch of Montana dealership in early 2007.
Hubble says he is dedicated to growing the dealership by being a hands-on owner, meeting with customers as often as he can to demonstrate new products and learn the types of equipment they need most. Administrative duties will fall to his wife and vice president Joan, who has a business background as well as a distinguished career as a teacher.
For more information, please contact Ditch Witch of Montana at (406) 252-7667 or visit ditchwitch.com .
Fairview, Ore. – Cascade Corp. has acquired American Compaction Equipment, a manufacturer of construction attachments based in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
ACE specializes in designing, manufacturing and marketing compaction wheel attachments used in various soil compaction applications. Its products are sold through construction dealers and original equipment manufacturers, primarily in the Western United States. The company employs about 20 people. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Cascade Corp., based in Fairview, is an international manufacturer of material handling products for industrial vehicles.
Eugene, Ore. – Astec Industries, Chattanooga, Tenn., has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Peterson, of Eugene, for about $34 million.
Peterson is a manufacturer of whole-tree pulpwood chippers, horizontal grinders and blower trucks. Founded in 1961 as Wilbur Peterson & Sons, a heavy construction contractor, the company expanded into manufacturing in 1982 to develop equipment to suit their land clearing and construction needs. By 1990 Peterson had developed its first wood recycling machine and since that time continuous development has led to the existing product line. The company will continue to operate from its Eugene headquarters under the name Peterson Pacific Corp. The transaction is expected to close during the third calendar quarter.
Milwaukee, Wis. – Two Northwest companies have joined Association of Equipment Manufacturers to take advantage of the association’s business-development services to enhance their company competitiveness in the global marketplace.
They are Advantage Machine & Hydraulics Inc. of Nampa, Idaho, and American Piledriving Equipment of Kent, Wash.
San Francisco – Wells Fargo & Co. has completed the acquisition of CIT Construction, the U.S. construction lending business unit of CIT Group Inc. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
CIT Construction’s name will be Wells Fargo Construction, part of Wells Fargo Equipment Finance Inc. Its main office remains in Tempe, Ariz.