Yoder & Frey Hires Ryan Hawthorne as Territory Manager for West Florida Region
Auctioneer Yoder & Frey has hired Ryan Hawthorne as territory manager covering the West Florida region. Hawthorne joins the company with many years of experience in the plant and machinery sector, with specialist experience in the rental market.
Hawthorne will focus on developing the brand in the state of Florida, primarily on the west coast as well as the bordering states of Alabama and Georgia. With the majority of his career in the machinery and equipment rental market, Ryan is looking forward to introducing his list of contacts to the Yoder & Frey business.
Hawthorne joins Yoder & Frey from Herc Rental, the third largest rental company in North America. Prior to his time at Herc, Hawthorne was a key account manager for Synergy Equipment on the west coast of Florida. He really cut his teeth in this industry during his five years with Neff Rental (since acquired by United Rentals), then one of the leading earthmoving rental companies in not only Florida, but the nation, providing services to construction companies, golf course developers, industrial plants, and the oil industry.
Hawthorne has spent his whole life around equipment and machinery, with his father starting as a heavy equipment mechanic and working his way up in the road-building industry, and his sister working for a well-known OEM.
Why Yoder & Frey? Alex Young, another new recruit to Yoder & Frey invited him to meet the team at the recent Winter Sale in Kissimmee, Fla.
"I have known of Yoder & Frey for many years and being from Florida was always aware of the now legendary Kissimmee Winter Sale, which they founded nearly 50 years ago," said Hawthorne. "I was looking for a change, seeking something that would challenge me. I know the company, and its history and what I saw at this year's Kissimmee sale really impressed me. The Yoder & Frey team are a tight family group, which I liked, and I also saw many opportunities to utilize my own contacts in the rental arena, in addition to buying and selling in other sectors of the market.
"I am very excited to be part of the Yoder & Frey team and am looking forward to promoting the brand throughout the region. With a team of 'big hitters' and the backing to make things happen, these will be very interesting times."
Hawthorne served in the Marine Corps from 1999 to 2004, with a tour of Iraq in 2003.
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.