Lift Inc. recently completed construction of a 68,000 sq.-ft. facility along Route 61 in Leesport, Pa. The building is the new home of Lift Inc.’s material handling division serving Berks, Lebanon, and Schuylkill counties. In addition, it is the new home of Reading Tractor and Equipment.

Lift Inc. was founded in 1973 by Michael Scornavacchi Sr. in Bernville, Pa., as a lift truck parts supplier. During the first 10 years, the company added service capability and equipment lines.

Don Herman is the company president. He started his career with Crown Equipment Company and joined Lift in 1999 as general sales manager. Kirk Sears currently serves as the company’s vice president. He joined Lift in 1994 as the Mechanicsburg branch manager. Previously, he worked with Caterpillar Industrial in various sales and service positions. Herman and Sears purchased the company from Scornavacchi in 2003.

Lift Inc. is central Pennsylvania’s exclusive material handling dealer for Toyota and Crown forklift trucks. The aerial division in Manheim, Pa., represents Genie, JLG, and Skyjack scissor and boom lifts. Its construction divisions are Reading Tractor & Equipment in Leesport and Bobcat of Lancaster in Brownstown. They offer Kubota tractors and mowers along with Bobcat loaders, excavators, telescopic tool carriers, tractors, and utility vehicles. The company also carries CAM Superline trailers, the Scag and Exmark professional mower lines, and Stihl power tools.

“The company has grown by maintaining relationships with the highest quality leading manufacturers in each industry we represent,” Sears said. “Secondly, we strive to provide superior service on all the products that we sell.”

Sears noted that the Bernville operation had outgrown its facility 10 years ago.

“In 2005, we expanded their building, but soon outgrew it again,” he said. “Reading Tractor & Equipment was operating out of a leased facility, and we felt we could gain some efficiencies by combining the operations into a single building (but keeping separate staffing). Three years ago, we started looking for land and found the 13-acre parcel. It was more land than we needed, but it had great visibility, was close to our former RTE facility, and was centrally located to Reading and many of our larger lift truck clients.”

The Reading Tractor portion of the new building has a dedicated showroom, offices, a parts department shop area, and an outside display area. Lift Inc.’s section has dedicated offices, a parts warehouse, and a shop area. Common areas include a lunch room, training facilities, loading docks, and a warehouse.

“Both operations have only been under the same roof for a few weeks now, but so far it has worked very well,” Sears said. “Although each division has dedicated technicians and parts staff, there are times when unusual demands require a shifting of manpower to get a job done. With 50 technicians and drivers working out of the new Leesport facility, this is most common in areas of shop repairs and transportation.”

For more information, visit www.readingtractor.com and www.liftincorporated.com.

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