Planting its roots in the northwest.Company grows from small business in Thunder Bay Thunder Bay, city (1991 pop. 113,946), SW Ont., Canada, on Thunder Bay inlet of Lake Superior. The city was created in 1970 by the amalgamation of the twin cities of Fort William and Port Arthur and two adjoining townships. to include branch offices across the North.In 1973, Equipment World Ltd. began as a small, northwestern Ontario Northwestern Ontario is the region within the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north and west of Lake Superior, and west of Hudson Bay and James Bay. It includes most of subarctic Ontario. company specializing in material handling, storage and packaging systems with a strong commitment to provide high-quality service to a market in need of practical solutions. Today, Equipment World Ltd. maintains its role as a material handling, storage and packaging systems specialist, and prides itself on its 27-year commitment to "good value and great service" to its ever-growing client base across the province and throughout North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. . Equipment World was the brainchild brain·child n. An original idea or plan attributed to a person or group. brainchild Noun Informal an idea or plan produced by creative thought Noun 1. of Peter Knudsen, who, after seeing similar facilities in other cities, recognized the potential of an industrial packaging warehousing business in Thunder Bay. With the help of partner Jim Sutton James Robert Sutton, CNZM (born 7 November 1941), generally known as Jim Sutton, was a New Zealand politician from 1984 - 1990 and from 1993 - 2006. He has held a range of ministerial portfolios including Agriculture, Forestry, Rural Affairs, Biosecurity, and Trade and a handful of investors, Equipment World opened its doors in September 1973, striving to provide better and safer ways to move, store and distribute materials. Today, 62-year-old Knudsen heads the company as president and continues to remain dedicated and active in the business, says Lyle Knudsen, his son and also the vice-president and general sales manager sales manager n → gerente m/f de ventas sales manager n → directeur commercial sales manager sale n → . Peter was born and raised on a farm in Pass Lake Ontario, about 50 kilometres east of Thunder Bay. Armed with a decade of experience working with local industrial supply companies, and numerous years experience as an accounts manager with a financial institution, Peter ventured onto the entrepreneurial stage opening the doors to Equipment World Inc. Little did Peter Knudsen know at the time that one day his company would swell beyond the borders of northwestern Ontario and grow to service practically every industry, from mining companies to educational institutions. "Obviously there was a good market for it," Knudsen says, pointing to the success the company has enjoyed over the past quarter century. "He (Peter) saw that this area wasn't as developed as other larger centers" and he changed that. Perhaps the most significant challenge the company faced during its initial stages was to convince manufacturers a need for specialists in the field of material-handling existed, he explains. "It really took a long time to establish a good firm selection of suppliers, manufacturers that would support the " Knudsen says. "A big part of the challenge was to educate the customers who were used to dealing with businesses that used material-handling equipment as a sideline sideline See on the sidelines. , versus us who used it as a main line." Once a small business in a 1,500-square-foot building, Equipment World has outgrown its location twice and is now housed in a 30,000-square-foot facility in Thunder Bay's industrial hub. The payroll sits at just over 60 employees, that's 57 more employees than company started out with. "This (current) building once had four tenants, but Equipment World grew until we needed the whole facility," Knudsen says. "We also have (off-site) yard storage. We have close to 200 pieces of equipment in our rental inventory, so we needed the space. And with bulk buying bulk buying Noun the purchase of goods in large amounts, often at reduced prices bulk buying n → compra a granel bulk buying n → , we also need the warehouse space." But despite the changes, Knudsen says Equipment World has never strayed from its focus, nor have customer service levels suffered. "We've maintained our specialization A career option pursued by some attorneys that entails the acquisition of detailed knowledge of, and proficiency in, a particular area of law. As the law in the United States becomes increasingly complex and covers a greater number of subjects, more and more attorneys are philosophy, but we've since taken our solution-selling approach to other areas and industries, Knudsen says. "We've evolved by addressing a full array of industries, and we've improved ourselves by formally training all of our personnel." After 13 years of success in the northwest, Equipment World expanded into Northem Ontario by opening the doors to its second branch in Sudbury in 1987. Branches in Sault Ste. Marie Sault Sainte Marie — pronounced "Soo Saint Marie" (IPA /su seɪnt məˈɹi/) — is the name of two cities on the Saint Marys River, which forms part of the boundary between the United States and Canada. and Timmins would follow over the course of the next 10 years. Aside from selling, renting and leasing material-handling equipment like forklifts, lift platforms, booms and skid steer steer castrated male cattle beast over a year of age. See also bullock, buller steer. steer bulling see bulling. steer Medtalk verb products, Equipment World also offers its clients packaging products and storage solutions. Equipment World even installs lockers, food service systems, security doors and washroom accessories. Visit Equipment World on the Internet at www.equipworld.com. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion