Bobcat's family of dealers grows with the acquisition of Bobcat of Asheville, N.C.
ACME Operations LLC continues to expand its partnership with Bobcat, and its most recent venture was the acquisition of Bobcat of Asheville, N.C. In addition, the holding company currently owns Bobcat of Greenville, S.C., Bobcat of Spartanburg, S.C., Bobcat of Columbia, S.C., Bobcat of Charleston, S.C., and Bobcat of Savannah, Ga.
ACME’s General Manager, John Hopper, said the company has an excellent relationship with Bobcat.
“We represent Bobcat almost exclusively in all of our locations with no competing product lines,” Hopper said. “We have partnered with Bobcat to both of our mutual benefit, and as a result have earned our right and Bobcat’s support in growing the business and territory footprint in South Carolina, Georgia, and now North Carolina with the Asheville acquisition.”
According to Hopper, ACME came into existence in July of 2011, but traces its roots farther back to November of 2003 with the start of SE Equipment.
“SE Equipment acquired Bobcat of Spartanburg and Bobcat of Columbia, two locations which were struggling,” Hopper said. “The current team at ACME was assembled during the growth of SE Equipment, which by 2011 had grown to five locations [the original two plus Bobcat of Greenville, Bobcat of Charleston, and Bobcat of Savannah]. In July of 2011, the ownership of SE Equipment changed as the existing general manager and vice president acquired the business and began operating as ACME Operations LLC. However, we have always gone to market in each of our market areas as ’Bobcat of…’ Additionally, there was no personnel change, and since the new ownership had been operating the business, very little changed internally or externally as a result.”
Tony Nussbaum served as the branch manager under the previous ownership, and remains in that position with the new acquisition.
“Bobcat’s presence here in Asheville dates back to the early 90s,” Nussbaum said. “We have a strong and loyal customer base that continues to grow each year. Since joining ACME in late 2013, our resources have increased ten-fold, causing quite a buzz in our territory. With commercial and residential construction on the rise, coupled with ACME’s overwhelming support, we anticipate a great 2014 and many more to follow.”
Hopper said that he started with SE Equipment in August of 2004 as the branch manager of Bobcat of Spartanburg. His background includes serving as a nuclear qualified officer on submarines in the U.S. Navy and serving as product support manager of Ingersoll-Rand in its company-owned stores and as director of training of Road Institute under Ingersoll-Rand.
As for ACME’s future plans, Hopper said that the company’s strategy has remained the same.
“We feel there are synergies and efficiency to be gained by growth in adjacent territories,” Hopper said. “We are always looking for both acquisition opportunities and green field start ups to meet that strategy. At the same time, we strive for constant improvement to be a market leader and provide superior products, customer support, and employee satisfaction and opportunity in the markets we currently serve.”
Bobcat of Asheville is located on 28 Old Shoals Rd., Arden, N.C. 28704
For more information call 828/684-4403 or visit www.bobcatops.com
Brenda Ruggiero
Brenda Ruggiero has written for CEG for over 20 years. She lives near the town of Accident in far western Maryland. Her favorite assignments so far involved interviews with Survivor’s Boston Rob and hot dog eating champion Joey Chestnut. Both were involved in construction at one time.
Brenda holds a BA in Mass Communication with a writing focus from Frostburg State University and minors in Public Relations and Political Science. She works full time as a staff writer for a weekly newspaper, the Garrett County Republican. She enjoys feature writing the most, which gives her the opportunity to talk to people and share their stories.
Brenda and her middle school sweetheart, Reuben, have been married for over 34 years and have three grown children and four cats.
Read more from Brenda Ruggiero here.
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