CraneWorks Inc., one of North America’s top providers of lifting solutions, named three new employees to its leadership team. Paul Hecker joins the company as product manager – service vehicles, Gene Johnston is the new director of service, and David Beck is director of rental operations.
According to Keith Ayers, CEO of CraneWorks, “First and foremost, we’re excited about bringing Paul, David, and Gene into the fold because they’re all industry leaders. But we’re also excited because these hires are a sign of the company’s growth. Our rental fleet nearly doubled in size over the past year, leading to David Beck’s hire. All nine CraneWorks locations are becoming market leaders in service and maintenance, so we’re ready for Gene Johnston to help take us to the next level. And now that we have agreements in place with Auto Crane and IMT, our service truck business has exploded in both sales and rentals, leading us to bring Paul Hecker on board. All we’ve done as a company over the past several years is grow, so it’s a great time to be here.”
As the inventor of the IMT Dominator crane body’s patented design, Hecker (product manager – service vehicles) has unmatched knowledge of the market. With 36 years of industry experience including stints at IMT, SWP, and Palfinger, Paul immediately slots in as CraneWorks’ secret weapon for mechanics trucks, lube trucks, and small articulated cranes.
“I chose to join CraneWorks because I see so much potential here,” Hecker said. “Between my experience and our sales team’s dedication to their customers, we can grow our service truck business tenfold.”
Director of service Gene Johnston held a service director role for 10 years at the largest crane rental company in the United States before making the jump to CraneWorks. “My family has been in the crane business since before I was born, and I grew up as a grease monkey for a crane shop during the summers,” Johnston said. “Between our tenured employees and the exceptional talent we’re recruiting, I believe we can make CraneWorks the premier crane company in North America and our customers’ first call for service and maintenance.”
New director of rental operations David Beck has more than 40 years of industrial experience, including more than 12 years in the crane business and nine years specifically in rentals. According to Beck, “Even back when I was just getting started in the business I was working with cranes, so I guess you could say that cranes are in my blood. My goal is to build the best customer service experience in the industry while rapidly growing our fleet to provide the widest range of options for our customers’ projects.”
CraneWorks was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Houston. CraneWorks provides new and used equipment, manufacturer-backed and trained service, extensive parts inventories for all makes, and a modern rental fleet. Industries served include the energy sector, municipal and infrastructure construction, residential construction, foundations, precast, material handling, commercial lighting and signage, governmental, and utilities. Along with the traditional equipment segments, on a regional basis, CraneWorks provides specific market expertise for fluids management and hydro-excavation, railway service, and aerial platform access equipment.