PIRTEK has expanded its South Florida presence with a new location in Palm Beach. Owner Sam Belin opened PIRTEK Palm Beach earlier this month, staffing it with three technicians and two mobile service vehicles. He plans to add a third vehicle in a few months.

PIRTEK is the only franchise of its kind in the United States, providing hydraulic and industrial hose replacement sales and services. There are 65 PIRTEK franchises and a fleet of mobile service vehicles throughout the United States. Globally, PIRTEK has more than 400 locations and 2,000 mobile service vehicles in 23 countries. Palm Beach marks the 11th location for PIRTEK in Florida.

Belin opened his franchise under PIRTEK's new Tier 2 model, which the company rolled out last year. Under the standard Tier 1 model, a franchisee operates a full Service & Supply Center staffed with six team members and a minimum of two mobile service vehicles. The Tier 2 model, on the other hand, allows a franchisee to keep inventory in a small warehouse or storage facility and to lease two vehicles at a lower point of entry.

Tier 2 franchisees, who enjoy the same administrative support and training as Tier 1 owners, are expected to have a fully staffed and outfitted Service & Supply Center within three years. Each new Mobile Service Vehicle in the fleet widens the franchisee's exclusive territory.

A resident of Cocoa Beach, Fla., Belin worked in the corporate world 30 years, 15 in global sales. His path to becoming a PIRTEK franchisee began when he interviewed for a job recently at the company's corporate headquarters in Rockledge, Fla. During the course of the interview, he became so impressed with PIRTEK that he later decided to become a franchise owner himself.

“The job itself wasn't a perfect fit with my background, but I really liked the CEO, Glenn [Duncan], and I loved the business concept,” said Belin. “Palm Beach is an excellent place to open our franchise.”

Among the businesses and industries he plans to pursue are heavy equipment rental, recycling, auto salvage, scrap metals, injection molding, construction and demolition. “We also have a large number of golf courses here,” Belin said. “They're smaller customers but when there are a lot of them, there are also a lot of needs.”

Other potential customers Belin plans to approach are municipalities and railroads. In addition, he will seek business in the surrounding agricultural sector, which includes width swaths of sugar and citrus fields.

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