CED

September 2013

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Contractor Connection If You Are Helping Me, I Will Buy From You NUCA Chairman Florentino Gregorio, president of Anchor Construction, wants dealers to help contractors bridge the technology gap, help train on T-4. By Joanne Costin Chances are you have a customer like Florentino Gregorio, who is president of Washington, D.C.-based Anchor Construction. His fleet is comprised of approximately 50 machines. He occasionally buys from you, but prefers not to show loyalty to any single dealer. His staff performs most of their own maintenance. He's outgoing, well connected, and very, very, busy. Your challenge as a dealer is to grow the relationship and ultimately the business. But how do you do it? Our conversation with Gregorio reveals what might be on the minds of many other contractors these days. While business has improved somewhat, pricing remains competitive. It has been a challenge to manage fleets, people and resources. At the same time, technology, while offering solutions, is coming at them faster than they can handle it. Twenty-eight-year-old Anchor Construction provides contracting services to the Maryland, D.C. and Virginia markets. Gregorio started out doing brick and concrete work during college while earning a civil engineering degree from the University of Maryland. As time went on, he expanded his services to include water and sewer construction, as well as installing conduit for local utility Pepco. Anchor's clients include construction companies like Clark Construction, Hensel Phelps, WC Smith, Harvey Cleary, Hamel Builders and well as government agencies including the city of Baltimore, Baltimore County, the U.S. Navy, and both the Virginia and D.C. Departments of Transportation. As his business grew, Anchor's fleet also expanded. The company's 20-plus crews operate about 50 machines, including approximately seven or eight machines on rental-purchase contracts. It's an acquisition method that is working right now for Gregorio. "It gives us options," he said. "If the equipment is good and the need continues, we will change from a rental to an actual purchase," said Gregorio. Equipment Acquisition Anchor runs a mixed fleet of primarily Cat and Deere earthmoving machines, but also some Komatsu miniexcavators, a Terex Crane, Bobcats, a (continued on page 32) 30 | www.cedmag.com | Construction Equipment Distribution | September 2013 30_Contractor_Feature_KP.indd 30 8/28/13 12:34 PM

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