After 45 years in the equipment business, Bo Lowe, sales coordinator of Reynolds-Warren Equipment Company Inc. in Lake City, Ga., has set his retirement date for Jan. 7, 2013.

Lowe essentially grew up in the equipment business as his father Tom Lowe partnered with Bill Burch who had started a company called Contractors Equipment Company in 1952. After some changes and acquisitions, the company was later renamed Burch-Lowe, a large Atlanta-based heavy equipment distributor with branches throughout the state and a quality lineup of machine offerings.

Bo started working for the company off and on in the 1960s as a teenager doing whatever was needed, including steam cleaning Etnyre distributors on the steam clean rack during the summer. After high school Lowe continued with the company and worked briefly in the service department and then in the parts department for five years while going to college. After Lowe committed to full time employment with the company, he eventually went into sales and became the company's sales coordinator in 1973, a position he held until 1991.

In 1991, Lowe left the company to go to work with a close friend who needed someone to help increase sales for a hardware company that dealt in outdoor power equipment sales and repair and was in the feed and seed business.

Soon Lowe's former coworkers Joe Reynolds, whose previous employment included being a salesman of Burch Lowe, and Clifford Warren, who was once the Burch Lowe service manager, began to work on recruiting him to go to work with them at their company, Reynolds-Warren Equipment.

Lowe saidthat for years, "Joe kept calling and calling and asking me to come in and give Clifford some help on inside sales and I finally said 'yes.'"

Lowe joined Reynolds-Warren in 1994. Once again, in the position of sales coordinator, the same title he held at Burch-Lowe and the same title he holds at retirement.

In addition to being sales coordinator and handling equipment invoicing, inside sales, equipment bids, etc., Lowe stated that he worked in the parts department if needed and pretty much worked in whatever capacity needed for the benefit of the customer.

When asked about what he would miss in his retirement, Lowe replied, "All the good people I work with, the great products and manufacturers we work with and their representatives, but most importantly the customers. Most of our customers have become my friends. I'm going to miss all the people in this industry."

Lowe's retirement plan includes moving out of the metro Atlanta area to a more rural setting in the Danielsville, Ga., area.

The position Lowe is retiring from will be placed in the capable hands of Brian Meissen.

Lowe stated that of all the Burch's and all the Lowe's in the Atlanta area that founded and worked for the Burch-Lowe business, he is the last of the family members to step away from the industry.

Reynolds-Warren is a full service dealer for lines such as LeeBoy, Rosco, Midland, Sakai-asphalt rollers, Crafco and Alamo.

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