Southeastern Equipment Promotes Watton and Gourley to Key VP Operational Roles
Southeastern Equipment Co. has promoted Heath Watton and Mickey Gourley to the position of vice president. Watton and Gourley will be responsible for all Southeastern Equipment Co. locations, and will oversee daily operations, including sales, service, parts and customer relations.
Gourley joined Southeastern Equipment in 1998 as an outside salesman after earning a B.A. in Business from Muskingum University. He quickly moved into increasing levels of management and responsibility after demonstrating his commitment to the company’s customers and products. His most recent position was general manager. With 18 years of experience in sales and customer service, he is uniquely positioned to provide leadership and continued growth.
Before working at Southeastern Equipment, Watton attended Muskingum University, where he earned a B.S. in Biology. In 2003, he joined the company as a salesman at the Heath, Ohio, location where he was recognized for his knowledge of equipment manufacturing and his work ethic. Previously, he was Southeast Ohio regional manager. With more than 12 years of experience within the company, his promotion is timed to capitalize on his unique understanding of operations in order to expand the company’s reach.
As part of their new responsibilities, Gourley and Watton will be visiting each location in the coming months to refine intracompany communications in order to provide continuity and coordination among all of the branches.
“I am looking forward to seeing the contributions that Heath and Mickey will make in their new roles,” said Charlie Patterson, president of Southeastern Equipment. “Both are veterans of the company and will be charged with enhancing and growing our equipment sales efforts as well as improving our product support capabilities. We look forward to their continued growth and leadership involvement with Southeastern.”
Based in Cambridge, Ohio, Southeastern Equipment, also a major rental player, is No. 63 on the RER 100.
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.