Todd Kaley, vice president of sales of Vantage Equipment, wanted to offer his customers in the paving business one-stop shopping, but something was missing. He found the missing piece to the puzzle this past September when his company officially signed on to carry Champion Motor Graders in upstate New York and Vermont.

“We have carried Champion products unofficially for almost four years so our sales and service staff is very familiar with the quality of the product line,” said Kaley. “Now that we are an authorized dealer, our Champion compact graders will complement our larger-sized Volvo fleet and will fit well with our new Volvo line of compaction and paving products.”

Marking its fourth year in the equipment business, Vantage Equipment operates out of three locations in Syracuse, Albany and Batavia. Kaley said that heavy highway, waste and municipal industries constitute Vantage Equipment’s major customer base. He suggested that the company’s local ownership and a solid knowledge of the market give it a definite advantage over the competition. “It makes a big difference when customers actually know the people they are doing business with,” said Kaley.

“It makes it more of a partnership rather than just a supplier.”

Kaley anticipated that Vantage’s new line of Champion compact graders would help the company make inroads with paving companies and contractors. He also has great expectations for Champion’s new production class graders.

“We plan on getting some new municipal business with the new larger C110 C and C116 C Series graders coming out in January 2009,” said Kaley.

Kaley plans on getting a lot of mileage out of the Champion C80 C Series demonstrator motorgrader he has on order. “We plan on demoing the C80 C around New York and Vermont and we’re working on some print and direct mail promotion at the moment. We expect a warm response to the line from the customers in our market once they can see the Champion demonstrator up close and personal,” said Kaley. “We will be stocking Champion’s recommended stock inventory list and we plan on holding training sessions for our sales force this winter. Our technicians will receive hands-on training once the machines arrive in our branches.”

Kaley had high praise for Woody Ferrell, Champion’s recently appointed new vice president sales and marketing.

“Woody brings a pretty long history of experience with construction equipment and motorgraders to his new position and he is definitely an asset to the Champion organization, and one that we will rely on,” said Kaley. “We’re happy to be joining Woody and the Champion team and we think it’s going to fit in nicely with our future plans and success.”

“The future looks bright for Champion Motor Graders,” said Ferrell, “and we welcome Todd Kaley and the rest of the staff at Vantage Equipment to the Champion team. Vantage and Champion share a lot of the same philosophies as they relate to customer satisfaction. They are a perfect fit for us.”

For more information, call 704/392-1038 or visit www.championmotorgraders.us.

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