Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/946503
February 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com 12 K awasaki Construction Machinery Corp. of America loaders will soon take on the branding of their parent company. Nearly two years after Hitachi Construction Machin- ery completed its purchase of the company, KCMA will change its name to Hitachi Construction Machinery Load- ers America. The change, which includes a new corporate structure, started with the new year. Hitachi says it plans to increase loader production and streamline its loader offering in North America. The company manufactures loaders in Banshu and Ryugasaki, Japan; and in Newnan, Georgia. KCM, formerly Kawasaki Construction Machinery, en- tered the North American construction equipment market in 1962. The Japanese company released its first wheel loader to the market in 1978 and in 2010 entered into a joint venture with Hitachi to aid in the development of Tier 4 Final loaders. Hitachi purchased KCM loaders from Kawasaki in 2016. –By Wayne Grayson reporter | staff report Former Kawasaki/KCM loaders now Hitachi Briefs For more on each of these stories go to equipmentworld.com. VMAC has promoted company co-founder Jim Hogan to CEO from president. Tod Gilbert has been named the company's new president. Gilbert has been with VMAC since 2006 and has held various positions, including, most recently, executive vice president. Bill Cox has been named sales director for Terex Cranes North America, replacing Mark Phillippi, who has retired. Cox was previously a crane equip- ment sales and distributor development representa- tive for Tadano Mantis Corporation. The U.S. construction industry saw employment increase by 3.1 percent during 2017, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Labor Depart- ment. Construction added a total of 210,000 jobs over the course of 2017. The U.S. transportation infrastructure market is ex- pected to rebound slightly in 2018 after a 2.8-percent drop in 2017, according to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). Total domestic transportation construction and re- lated market activity is forecast to reach $255 billion in 2018, a year-on-year increase of 3.2 percent after adjusting for project costs and inflation, ARTBA says. Custom Equipment has been acquired by an affiliate of the investment firm Stratford-Cam- bridge Group. Custom Equipment is a family- owned designer and manufacturer of specialized scissor lifts sold primarily under the Hy-Brid Lifts brand, with headquarters and a manufacturing facil- ity in Wisconsin. National Equipment Dealers (NED) has acquired Four Seasons Equipment, May Heavy Equipment and Earthmovers Equipment, as well as some assets of International Iron. The corporate office of the new entity will be based at May Heavy Equipment's facilities recently built in Lexington, North Carolina. The Walsh Group, ranked the 11th-largest construc- tion firm in the United States, celebrates its 120th anniversary this year. The company, in its fourth- generation of family leadership, traces its beginnings to Matthew Myles Walsh, who started a carpentry business out of his home in Chicago in 1898. difficulty finding qualified workers – compared to 73 percent at the beginning of 2017. The deepening short- age in skilled operators, mechanics, carpenters and other workers has spurred the industry to step up efforts to recruit potential workers, even while they're still in high school, and to offer training programs. Overall, 53 percent of firms surveyed expect industry growth and only 9 percent expect a decline, says Ken Simonson, chief economist with Associated General Contractors of America. For further details on the survey "Expecting Growth to Continue: The 2018 Construction Industry Hir- ing and Business Outlook," which includes a state-by- state breakdown, go to http://bit.ly/2D0iMnc. – By Joy Powell (continued)