RJV Equipment held an open house April 9 at its new location on Rudy Street, Knoxville, Tenn., just off I-275. Guests had the opportunity to look over the latest machines from Ditch Witch and Kubota, and they also enjoyed a catered lunch provided by Texas Roadhouse Restaurant that included ribs, chicken, corn, string beans, rolls and tea.

The new facility offers more than twice the space of RJV's previous location, with 14,500 sq. ft. on more than 5 acres, including an 8,500-sq.-ft. service area that can easily house a dozen machines at a time.

"This really gives us the capacity to have both Ditch Witch and Kubota products as well as growth going forward," said RJV Equipment President Ray Romano. "We also carry CAM Superline and Felling trailers, CP/Epiroc breakers, Blue Diamond, Paladin, Diamond mowers, Vacuworx, and Land Pride attachments."

RJV Equipment, which does business as Ditch Witch of Tennessee and RJV Kubota, maintains a fleet of service trucks for normal maintenance, as well as full-capability service trucks equipped with cranes, welders and air compressors.

"We try to have support from sales people all the way back through the service department," Romano said. "We've spent a lot of time and money investing in our people. We're extremely proud of our reputation."

Another source of pride — and a major source of expansion — is the rental side of the business. In a niche market such as the one served by Ditch Witch, Romano explained, dealers in the past have been loath to rent equipment. That hesitation became a thing of the past in middle and eastern Tennessee when RJV arrived on the scene.

"We are probably one of the more aggressive dealers in the rental side of the business — whether it be mini-skid steers, small walk-behind trenchers or big drills," Romano said. "We rent all the Kubota Construction Equipment products."

CEG

(L-R): Ray Romano, RJV Equipment president, meets with David White and Kath Cross of Star Construction, a subsidiary of Dycom Industries in Knoxville; Chris Alexander, RJV Equipment; and Cory Smith and Tucker Dotson of Ditch Witch.  

(L-R): Matt Thielke, Corey Smith, Tucker Dotson, Greg Wolfe and Darryl Brown, all of Ditch Witch, gather in front of their company’s lineup of products at RJV Equipment’s open house.  

Going over the Ditch Witch JT20XP (L-R) are Mike Goodman and Kevin Schafluetzel of RJV Equipment and Nate Crisp and Blake Cooper of Athens, Tenn., Utility Board.  

Keeping the machines up and running at RJV Equipment (L-R) are Joe Cummings, service manager; A.J. Hawn, field technician; Ray Romano, president; and Joe Hunt, product support manager.  

(L-R): Ray Romano, RJV Equipment president, meets with David Bowman and Justin Ferguson of Kubota  

(L-R): The RJV Equipment service and product support team is made up of Eric Anderson, Michael Vick, Ethan Goss, Jaxon Trawick, Gabriel Burns, A.J. Hawn, Frankie Harvey and Joe Cummings.  

A hearty lunch provided by Texas Roadhouse Restaurant included ribs, chicken breast, corn, string beans, rolls and tea.  

Brent Brown (L), Smoky Mountain Utility Services in Gatlinburg, Tenn., shows off one of the many door prizes RJV Equipment gave away to show customers its appreciation. With him are Chris (C) and Logan Alexander of RJV Equipment.  

RJV Equipment’s spacious new lobby displays a variety of parts and tools.  

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