CraneWorks Hires New General Manager for Houston and Dallas Fort Worth Locations
CraneWorks Inc. has hired Eric Rhodes as general manager, leading the Houston headquarters and the Dallas-Fort Worth field office. He possesses a broad background in several key industries that CraneWorks serves, including transmission and distribution, oil and gas, and construction. Rhodes first fell in love with welding at nine years old. It wasn’t long before he began his career as an electrician, eventually working his way up to master electrician. After nine years he joined KBR, spending time in the Middle East before signing on with Stewart & Stevenson and then Cameron (now Schlumberger). Rhodes then spent nearly 11 years as a branch manager, operations manager, and sales manager at Waukesha-Pearce Industries.
“On the surface, my job as a general manager at CraneWorks is to increase productivity and streamline processes in Houston and Dallas,” said Rhodes. “But what I’m really excited about is the way we’re going to do that. Every day my employees come to work and get the chance to learn something new is a good day. I like bringing out the best in people.”
“Eric impressed us right away with his attitude toward leadership,” said Keith Ayers, CraneWorks CEO. “He brings a unique, motivational leadership style to CraneWorks that’s born of a sincere desire to elevate those around him. With a few dozen direct and indirect reports, we’re excited to see what the teams accomplish under his guidance.”
Founded in 2002 and 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.
CraneWorks is No. 79 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.