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Monthly Archives: October 2019

Employee Spotlight: Richard Magness

Richard Magness, Field Service Manager.

Meet Richard Magness! 

Richard Magness has been in the service industry for more than 17 years. He began his career as a road technician. Eventually, he moved to Shop Foreperson and recently switched positions to Field Service Manager at the company’s El Dorado, AR location. Richard ensures his team is on top of their daily duties and keeps paperwork caught up throughout the day. He also helps keep the quotes, parts, and jobs on course.

His favorite part about his job is the satisfaction of fixing broken equipment. He also loves working with such a great group of people. “My most memorable moment with the company is when, after annoying Mark Gibbs to hire me—an inexperienced mechanic—he gave me a chance to become a part of the Hugg & Hall family. I’m not sure if he had confidence that I could do the job or just got tired of me asking!”

Richard is a Willisville, Arkansas native, where he lives with his wife of almost 40 years. They have two daughters and five grandchildren. In his free time, Richard enjoys going to dirt track races, playing with his puppy and spending time with his family.

Stephen Dunn, Service Manager at the Hugg & Hall El Dorado branch, recently spoke on the positive impact Richard Magness has made on the service department. “Richard has completely turned the El Dorado shop into a well-organized and profitable part of our location. He has committed to bringing our service department to a new level in team work and customer service. The shop techs will be sad to see Richard go, but every technician in El Dorado and Texarkana is excited about this next stage of his career.“

Thank you, Richard, for your hard work and dedication throughout the years!

Update: Richard Magness retired from Hugg & Hall after many years of service. Thank you for your commitment to Hugg & Hall and congratulations on your retirement! 

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in October 2019. We updated it for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness in February 2023.

Hugg & Hall and Bobcat Company Celebrate 50 years!

A partnership that’s been going strong since 1969! Hugg & Hall (aka Bobcat of Little Rock) and Bobcat Company celebrated their 50-year dealer agreement in October 2019. 

John Hugg and Robert Hall viewing the original Clarklift and Bobcat agreement

History 

Charlie Hugg, owner of Clarklift of Arkansas (now Hugg & Hall Equipment Company) signed a dealer sales agreement with Bobcat Company on January 1st, 1969. 

This agreement allowed Clarklift to represent the Little Rock, AR territory. 

Since that day, Hugg & Hall has expanded their our dealer network to include Fort Smith, AR, Jonesboro, AR, and El Dorado, AR. 

Hugg & Hall’s rental department is set up as a national account for Bobcat. 

 

Celebration

To celebrate our 50 year partnership, Bobcat Company representatives presented John Hugg & Robert Hall with the first signed sales agreement between Bobcat Company and Clarklift. The agreement was framed with a Bobcat plaque. 

Bobcat Company also treated our Little Rock, Fort Smith, and Jonesboro branches to lunch. Thank you, Bobcat! 

 

This post was originally published in 2019. We updated it for freshness and accuracy in 2024.  

Did you know? Hugg & Hall has a new Bobcat-specific website for Bobcat of Little Rock! Contact us and learn more at bobcatlittlerock.com! 

Donald Strassle Retires After 31 Years of Dedicated Service

After 31 years of dedicated service to Hugg & Hall Equipment Company (Hugg & Hall), Donald Strassle, Heavy Equipment Road Technician at the Little Rock, Ark. branch, has officially retired.

While employed as a technician at Hugg & Hall, Donald repaired and took care of heavy equipment. He is very experienced in Detroit engine repairs, and enjoys repairing Euclid trucks. As his career progressed, Donald became very skilled at repairing Volvo and Bobcat equipment.  

John McKenzie, Service Manager at the Hugg & Hall Little Rock branch, attested to Strassle’s character and hard work.

“When we hired new employees I would always tell them, when Donald starts talking about his cows (yes Donald raised cows as a hobby) make sure you pay attention because he is not talking about his cows he is talking about the “job”.  Donald had a way to have a story attached to his “cows” that related to every repair job, he was funny like that.” 

John McKenzie also spoke about how Strassle’s colleagues will not only miss his many contributions to the company but will mostly miss his fun spirit.

“Over the years we all learned something from Donald. Donald was one of the first technicians that I worked with and he had a way to “break in”  new employees. When I started, I was brand new to Hugg & Hall and heavy equipment repair. He put me in a hole in this very large loader and dropped oil on me all day just to show me how dirty the job could be—he laughed about this to the day he retired, which I did too!  Donald will be missed and we will talk about the stories and experiences we shared with him during his time at Hugg & Hall Equipment.”

The entire Hugg & Hall team would like to thank Donald Strassle for his hard work, dedication and contributions throughout his time with the company and wishes him the very best of retirement!

Danny Harvey Receives Joseph M. Kaplan Safe Driver of the Year Award

Danny Harvey, accepting the Joseph M. Kaplan Safe Driver of the Year Award

Congratulations Danny Harvey!

Danny, a night delivery driver at Hugg & Hall Equipment Company (Hugg & Hall), recently achieved a major milestone in his driving career: one million accident free miles over the road. But his many achievements did not stop there, he was then nominated by Hugg & Hall Equipment Co. to receive the Joseph M. Kaplan Award, for Safe Driver of the Year through the National Safety Council, and he won!

This exclusive award, is received by the 10 Regional Best winners of the year. The awards are then presented at the National Awards Celebration, held in conjunction with the annual Congress & Expo. The acknowledgment is in recognition of an outstanding achievement and long service in the driving occupation, while focusing on safety and security. 

The exemplary activities, and promotion of education, that have lead Danny to the Joseph M. Kaplan Award, are nothing less than commendable. The Hugg & Hall family would like to send out a huge thank you to Danny for excelling in his position, and for his commitment to safe driving! We are lucky to have you!

If you’re interested in learning more about Danny and his accomplishments , see our blog Danny Harvey Achieves One Million Accident-Free Miles.

Hugg & Hall and Scott Equipment Agree to Trade Manufacturer Product Lines in Two States

Deal to Deliver Greater Value for Companies, Clients and Manufacturers

Little Rock, Ark. (Oct. 1, 2019) – Industry leaders Hugg & Hall Equipment Company and Scott Equipment Company, LLC have entered into a unique strategic agreement to trade Volvo and Toyota manufacturer territories in Louisiana and Arkansas in order to better align product offerings with each company’s business model and target markets. The agreement, effective today, is designed to expand the companies’ core operations, streamline manufacturer-dealer engagements and increase value to the companies’ clients through enhanced focus on primary business lines.

Under the terms of the landmark agreement, Hugg & Hall is transferring its Volvo Construction Equipment territory in Arkansas to Scott Equipment; in return, Scott Equipment is transferring its Toyota Material Handling territory in Louisiana to Hugg & Hall.

Hugg & Hall’s business focus includes sales, rental, parts and service of material handling and light construction equipment. The agreement calls for Hugg & Hall to operate out of current New Orleans and Baton Rouge Material Handling locations. Operations in Broussard, Lake Charles, Alexandria, Shreveport and Monroe will be absorbed into existing Hugg & Hall facilities.

Scott’s business focus includes sales, rental, parts and service of heavy-duty construction equipment and cranes. Under the terms of the deal announced today, Scott will absorb the Hugg & Hall Volvo operations into Scott’s existing Arkansas facilities.

“This is a transformative agreement that enables Hugg & Hall to expand our industry-leading position in the forklift market, sharpen our manufacturer relationships and deliver greater value to clients by enhancing the core capabilities we provide throughout our operating territory,” said Hugg & Hall President John Hugg. “Volvo Construction Equipment and Toyota Material Handling have both lent their full support to this innovative arrangement and are optimistic the new structure will result in growth across each brand.”

In order to expand their presence in Louisiana, Hugg & Hall intends to retain Scott’s material handling employees within the territory. As part of the deal, Scott Equipment will absorb Volvo-specific Hugg & Hall team members into its current Arkansas operations.

“We have enjoyed being a Volvo dealer for 33 years and are confident the talented team at Scott will continue to represent the brand well in Arkansas,” Hugg said. “At the same time, we are excited to grow our already strong relationship with Toyota, adding new territory in Louisiana that provides a valuable opportunity to advance our long-term strategic objectives.”

About Hugg & Hall

Hugg & Hall Equipment Company, headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, has been family owned and operated since 1956. The company is a full-service dealer for material handling equipment, representing Toyota, Taylor, Crown, Doosan, Enersys, Combilift, Sellick, Bobcat, and more. Hugg & Hall provides comprehensive material handling solutions including new & used equipment, parts and service support and a fleet of over 1000 rental forklifts. Hugg & Hall services all of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, southern Missouri and east Texas with a team of 600 employees and 14 locations. The company is also one of the largest construction and industrial equipment rental providers in the south, with a fleet of over 6,000 rental units. With value-added services and a focus on their customers, Hugg & Hall Equipment Company is the one-stop shop for every construction and industrial equipment need.

For more information about Hugg & Hall Equipment Company, please contact John Hugg, President, at john.hugg@hugghall.com.

About Scott Equipment

Scott Equipment Company has represented the world’s finest makers of heavy-duty construction equipment, cranes and forklifts since 1939.  Headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana, the company is a full-service dealer for heavy-duty construction equipment and cranes, representing Volvo, Elgin, JLG, Case, Kobelco, Cushman, Rammer, Furukawa, BTi and Gradall. Scott’s team of nearly 400 employees sells, rents and services at 19 locations in five states including Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Scott Equipment Company provides the customer with quality equipment supported with over $10 million parts inventory and certified service technicians with over 770 years of combined experience.

For more information about Scott Equipment Company, please contact Eric Goebel, Chief Operating Officer, at egoebel@scottcompanies.com or visit their website at https://www.scottcompanies.com/