Newest SENNEBOGEN 855 at work equipped with magnet.
Ashland, VA – A recent agreement with SENNEBOGEN LLC has concluded James River Equipment’s two-year search to expand its range of OEM lines with the right complementary machines for its customers in the Virginia region.
SENNEBOGEN LLC President Constantino Lannes welcomed James River Equipment as the manufacturer’s dealer in Virginia. “We are very pleased to have such an experienced and diversified representative to serve SENNEBOGEN’s customers in this region,” said Lannes. “As a long-standing family-owned business with a clear focus on customer support, James River is an ideal match for SENNEBOGEN purpose-built material handlers.”
Strength in key industries
Originally founded in Colorado in 1926 by Rudolf Romer, James River Equipment has long since migrated to its current base near Richmond, VA, now led by the founder’s great-grandson, Mark Romer. The dealership represents the full range of John Deere equipment throughout a four-state area, including eight branches in Virginia that will support the SENNEBOGEN line.
John Grantier, James River’s VP of Sales in Virginia, highlights the areas where SENNEBOGEN fulfills his mission to provide customers with a complete one-stop source of primary equipment. “Two of our niche markets include logging and material handling,” he explains. “Our employees have been in these industries for many years and have seen our customers’ needs evolve. Our parts and service departments have unique specialties to handle the needs of both industries, and thus makes us a great partner for both logging and material handling.”
Grantier cites his team’s strong relationship with scrap yards and log mills as a strong foundation for growing SENNEBOGEN’s presence in Virginia. Purpose-built material handlers from SENNEBOGEN meet the complementary needs for high stacking and rapid cycle times.
Complementary resources
SENNEBOGEN’s resources in North America also complement James River’s commitment to service and parts. “Our biggest strength would be product support,” says Grantier. “Our parts availability and service expertise in these niche markets makes us one of the best resources for customers.” Although SENNEBOGEN machines aren’t manufactured in the US, SENNEBOGEN LLC, in nearby Stanley, NC, maintains a 100,000 sq. ft. facility for its head office, warehouse and Training Center. “Knowing that SENNEBOGEN resources are so close to our own footprint made us feel confident in our ability to add SENNEBOGEN to our line-up. Having the headquarters so close allows us to train our sales and product support groups properly. Our product support group has already sent many of our parts and service teams to SENNEBOGEN for on‑site training.”
“Everyone is extremely impressed by the SENNEBOGEN facility,” Grantier continues. “The parts depot is incredibly impressive, clean, and organized. After visiting their facility, it became very apparent that SENNEBOGEN and James River are aligned in critical core competencies: the dedication to training, the investment in infrastructure and the commitment to customer uptime with their comprehensive parts stocking investment.”
To highlight the capabilities of both equipment and support staff, James River Equipment has planned a demonstration clinic in its Winchester location on September 11th. Grantier reports that some of SENNEBOGEN’s most popular machines for forestry and scrap applications will be featured in the firm’s machine inventory, including the 718 M, 818 M and 835 M E-Series models.