Equipment Ontario Incorporated has acquired the majority interest of the Waterloo, Ontario-based Advance Construction Equipment Limited.
Together, the two companies will service more than 16 counties throughout Ontario, from the shores of Lake Huron in the west to Peterborough County in the east with dealership locations in Elmira, Harriston, Lindsay, Listowel, Mildmay, Port Perry, Waterloo, and a future location near Alliston.
The Advance Equipment name will remain and become a division of Equipment Ontario.
“Our employees and customers are like family. We wanted to partner with a company with the same morals and values,” said Ric Thompson, Advance Construction Equipment General Manager.
With the partnership, Equipment Ontario is able to expand the JCB agriculture line across the full servicing area and offer the JCB construction line at Harriston, Port Perry and Waterloo. However, not all dealerships will carry JCB equipment. The agriculture and construction landscape are changing, and with this partnership they are building a stronger entity to provide stability for their staff, customers and suppliers.
Advanced Construction Equipment was founded in 1965 by John A. Ball of Ball Brothers Limited to complement the family’s growing construction business. Sydney W. Brown became a shareholder and general manager of operations six years later, and established Advance as a dealer for Allis Chalmers.
In 1984, Advance formed a new dealership agreement with JCB to market its backhoe loaders, eventually expanding to sell JCB’s front end loaders, material handling and rough terrain forklifts.
After the passing of Brown in 2003, long-time employees Ron Teske, Ric Thompson and John Gleeson took over the company.
The company moved to its headquarters in Waterloo in 2012.
Equipment Ontario and Advance will continue to represent all existing brands, and current team members will remain in their roles.
