Bay Crane Companies Acquires Gatwood Crane Rental
The Bay Crane Companies, one of the leading providers of specialty crane and rigging equipment services in the northeastern United States, has acquired Gatwood Crane Rental Inc.
“Ed and his family have built a very successful business with a great reputation,” said Kenneth Bernardo, CEO of Bay Crane. “We see Gatwood Crane as the foundation upon which we will build a leading Chicago-land crane service company. Our plan is to see this business grow and prosper as we add equipment, services, customers, additional locations and attract the highest quality employees.”
Gatwood Crane was founded by Chuck Gatwood in 1947 and has grown to become one of the best-known crane rental companies in the Chicago area with a fleet of cranes ranging from 10 to 500 tons lifting capacity.
Ed Gatwood, the CEO, said, “We couldn’t have found a better partner than the Bay Crane team to take over the business my family built over the years. Bay Crane understands the importance of our people to the success of this business. I am excited for the future of Gatwood Crane, its employees and our ability to better serve our customers in the future.”
“We’re delighted to welcome our new customers and team members to Bay Crane,” added Bernardo. “This transaction expands our presence into key markets with an experienced team that shares our pride in delivering superior customer service. As customers turn to us for their crane, rigging and transportation needs we intend to broaden our capabilities in the Chicago-land area to provide them with a complete range of solutions to help them succeed.”
The Bay Crane Companies operate out of six primary locations in New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Gatwood Crane is located in Arlington Heights, Ill.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.