Blanchard Machinery Company has reached a milestone anniversary, celebrating 25 years in business.

It was founded in 1982, when G. Robert Blanchard purchased Jeff Hunt Machinery.

Blanchard remained active in the South Carolina dealership until 1996 when his son, Joe Blanchard, took over as president.

Over the last 25 years Blanchard officials said the basic values of the comapany remain the same. It has tried to maintain its philosophy of taking care of customers, providing value and doing the right thing.

Blanchard Machinery, headquartered in Columbia, S.C., now has 15 locations throughout the state, with five divisions of products and services — heavy equipment, power systems (generators, truck and marine engines), rental services, compact equipment and the newly acquired Pioneer forestry and recycling division.

The company’s success gained recognition in 2006, when Blanchard ranked ninth in the Grant Thornton South Carolina 100 Ranking list of the largest privately held companies in the state.

Blanchard credits its staff of more than 800 people statewide for being able to reach its 25th year.

Since the beginning, the company has used a simple philosophy.

“We believe in treating our customers the way we would like to be treated and we want to provide value. We want to earn our customers’ loyalty by providing the highest quality products and services in such a way that customers enjoy doing business with us,” Joe Blanchard said.

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