CED

February 2014

Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/255289

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 35 of 67

34 | www.cedmag.com | Construction Equipment Distribution | February 2014 A Closer Look There's an ancient legend from the times of the Aztecs about the origins of Pico de Orizaba, the highest mountain in Mexico – according to pre-Hispanic Olmec mythology, Orizaba was an eagle spirit that formed the 18,000-foot-high volcano. But one of the mountain's very recent climbers didn't hike to the summit to pay homage to the hot-tempered god – instead, Tim Watters is some- thing of a free spirit himself, and scales tall mountains for the fun of it. Adventurer, entrepreneur, adapter, volunteer, rock music fan, former teacher, and agent of change, Watters is AED's 2014 Chairman, and he's ready to help the association soar to new heights and shift into its next era of serving all of its members. During an inaugural ceremony at the AED Summit in Houston on Friday, Jan. 17, former AED Chairman Dennis Kruepke installed Watters as the association's 96th chief volunteer leader. Watters is the president of Hoffman Equipment based in Piscataway, N.J. The multiline, five-branch dealership serves contractors in New Jersey, Southern New York State including New York City and Long Island. The company represents Case Construction Equipment at three locations, Doosan and JCB at two, and all five stores offer Manitowoc (including the Grove brand), Atlas Copco, and Terex trucks. He's the third generation owner of the 80-year-old family company that has, itself, transformed many times to adapt to changing market conditions – in fact, Hoffman Equipment didn't begin at all in construction equipment; that chapter wasn't written till the 1980s. But we'll get to the history a bit later. Today, the company employs 80 people and runs very lean, Watters says, but the culture feels like family. "We must be doing something right, because we have a lot of alumni – people who may leave for whatever reason, and a AED's 2014 Chairman Tim Watters comes from a long line of entrepreneurs who understood the importance of change for survival – he'll put that know- how to use as AED embraces changes of its own. BY KIM PHELAN This Guy is a Transformer

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of CED - February 2014