Companies in the News: Updates from BrightView, Bobcat Co. and more

In April 2021, BrightView acquired Birch, based in St. Paul, Minn.

Founded in 1978, Birch provides a full suite of winter services, landscape maintenance and enhancements, tree care and irrigation services. Combined with our December 2020 acquisition of Cutting Edge, this transaction further solidifies BrightView as the service leader in a desirable Upper Midwest market.

Doosan Bobcat North America celebrated the completion of a $26 million expansion at its manufacturing facility in Litchfield, Minn. The 15-month project nearly tripled the size of the facility, from 70,000 square feet of office and manufacturing space to nearly 200,000 square feet, and it will create a significant number of new jobs in the community.

The expansion adds new assembly lines and upgrades, conveyor systems, a new paint line, climate control systems and more, all designed to add efficiency and provide additional manufacturing capabilities to meet the growing customer demand for the ever-expanding lineup of Bobcat products. The Litchfield facility produces more than 250 unique attachments to equip Bobcat machines for specific tasks to enhance productivity and utility.

The expansion brings additional employment opportunities and economic growth to the area. Doosan Bobcat is actively recruiting to hire an additional 110 full-time, permanent employees with benefits in a phased approach through 2021 to join the operation’s current 140-plus workforce. This hiring plan includes a total of 150-plus production, manufacturing engineering and operations positions to be added since the expansion project launched in Nov. 2019.

Doosan Bobcat North America revealed plans for a $70 million expansion of its Statesville, N.C., manufacturing facility. The company plans to construct an additional 580,000 square feet for its manufacturing operations, which will create 250 new, full-time jobs over the next five years in Iredell County. The construction is expected to begin July 2021, with full project completion expected May 2022.

Doosan Bobcat’s $70 million investment in the Statesville facility through construction of the new expansion spaces and equipment purchases will grow the floor plan from nearly 500,000 square feet today, to more than one million square feet when complete. The company’s acquisition of 68 acres adjacent to the current, 92-acre campus will allow for the addition of 500,000 square feet of attached manufacturing space and 80,000 square feet of attached warehouse and distribution space.

Bobcat also is partnering with multiplatinum recording artist Justin Moore. Moore will serve as an official brand ambassador for Bobcat, and the company will sponsor Moore’s 2021 concert tour featuring his new eight-song collection, “Straight Outta The Country” (The Valory Music Co.).

The partnership also officially launched a fan sweepstakes, the Straight Outta the Country Giveaway, offering Bobcat prize giveaways and custom co-branded Bobcat and Moore swag. In addition, Moore will team up with Bobcat to make a charitable donation to benefit a nonprofit organization to be announced later this year.

Kut Kwick Corp. added a new authorized service center, Diesel Specialists of Humble, Texas.

For 38 years, Diesel Specialists has had an established reputation for providing excellent diesel mechanic service to Houston and the surrounding area. It is an authorized dealer’s representative for several great companies, and Kut Kwick is now one of them. With more than 100 combined years of experience, the team at Diesel Specialists said it is poised to offer the top-notch service Kut Kwick customers have come to expect.

The Mean Green team added 18 new dealers from around the country have added Mean Green commercial electric products to their power equipment lineup.

As part of its continuing efforts to provide maximum support to its OEMs in Mexico, the Engines Division of Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. joined forces with two affiliated companies to assume import and distribution activities in Mexico. Tecnologia En Riego De Mexico (TERMSA) and Tecnologia Integral En Riego (TIRSA) will geographically split responsibilities for the country, based on a north-south division of its numerous states.

Each of the companies will import and market replacement engines and parts, as well as provide warranty and technical support.

TIRSA, based in Guadalajara, will service the area of Mexico that lies roughly north of Mexico City to the U.S. border, including Baja. The 38-year-old company has experience providing both exclusive and shared distribution services to its clients. Its staff provides sales, administrative, systems design, warehouse and technical support. TERMSA, with headquarters in Mexico City, will focus on the area roughly south of the capital, and its sales, administrative, and technical staff will work with dealers and the landscape industry in that 14-state area. The company is currently constructing a new warehouse in Playa del Carmen. It holds memberships in both the National Association of Golf Club Superintendents and in the Mexican Golf Federation.

Both of the distributors will provide full-service capabilities, inclusive of technical education for their respective distribution channels. Kawasaki anticipates that order-to-delivery timing for its products will be greatly enhanced and will aid in building an increased presence for the brand.

AriensCo. acquired Germany-based AS-Motor. The move complements AriensCo’s strategic international growth plans.

AS-Motor is a third-generation family-run enterprise and has been a quality manufacturer of professional mowing solutions for high grass and slopes since 1959. The company employs 140 people. Headquartered in Buhlertann, Southern Germany, AS-Motor products are sold through 300 dealers in Germany, over 100 dealers in France and distributors throughout the rest of Europe and the world.

Takeuchi-U.S. presented Parman Tractor & Equipment of Nashville, Tenn., with an award for having the largest market share growth of all Takeuchi dealers in North America during 2020. Parman Tractor has provided Takeuchi equipment sales, service, parts and rentals to customers throughout Tennessee since 2019.

In April 2019, Parman Holdings acquired Cumberland Tractor & Equipment, retaining that company’s sales, service and parts departments and employee expertise to launch the newly formed Parman Tractor & Equipment into the compact equipment industry. That same year, Parman Tractor built a new 20,000-square-foot facility with 14 service bays, further solidifying its dedication to the Nashville market and surrounding region.

Echo partnered BrandMuscle to provide distributors and dealers with the tools needed to execute a modern marketing strategy.

Echo will leverage BrandMuscle’s brand management, co-op fund management, and digital advertising expertise to achieve consistency across the brand, create customizable assets, manage corporate co-op funds, deploy and measure digital marketing campaigns, and print professional-quality direct mail marketing.

Echo and its distributor partners can now use the online Echo Advantage Marketing Platform provided by BrandMuscle to access customizable templates, view and spend funds, and order paid media placements. Preapproved direct mail postcard templates stored on the platform can be easily downloaded as a high-resolution file and sent directly to BrandMuscle’s print center.