June 2006 Letter from the President

On May 1st, Ben-Ko-Matic was acquired by a Partnership consisting of Earl Rose and Ron Howard. Earl will be actively involved with the day-to-day management of the company as President. He and the current staff will begin to implement many changes that are designed to build the business into a completely customer service focused company. Earl is excited to begin the process of making Ben-Ko-Matic the best equipment sales and service company in the Northwest.

Hello to all;

I would like to start by giving you a quick background on Ron and myself. Ron’s family started a company in Eugene, Oregon called Ivy Rents in 1958. After a short career in the construction industry as a civil engineer, Ron joined the company full time in 1977 and became President in 1980. At that time the company had two locations, one in Eugene and one in Portland. In 1982 Ivy purchased a company in Portland where I had been a mechanic since 1980. I progressed through the service, parts and sales departments until 1992 when I was named Vice President. Under Ron’s direction, the company grew to 30 locations throughout the West Coast. Ron retired in 1998 and I continued as VP for the western United States. In 2000, Sunbelt Rentals acquired Ivy Hi-Lift; as VP of the Western US we continued the expansion to 42 locations with over 500 Team Members and over $140 million a year in sales in the Western US.

Ron and I share the same business beliefs:

1. Do everything with Honesty and Integrity.
2. Always take care of your customer and deliver beyond their expectations.
3. Build a win/win partnership between your customers, suppliers and employees.

Now, I am looking forward to building our new business while our entire team holds strongly to these beliefs.

I would like to address some rumors that have surfaced since our acquisition. Jim and Mary Theda sold the company in two parts. The brush manufacturing division was sold United Rotary Brush and URB moved all manufacturing to California. As such, there is no longer any company building brushes in the Northwest. You may soon be hearing from a URB salesperson; if you choose to buy direct from URB that will certainly be up to you. However, we want you to know that you still have the choice to buy locally.

Ben-Ko-Matic and the ongoing business, including the inventory, has been sold to Ron and me. Our ongoing business plan includes stocking and selling a complete line of brushes for all makes of sweeping equipment as well as OEM Elgin brushes for superior performance. We are a locally owned company, so when you do business with us, your purchases will be an investment in the local economy.

We will also continue to be your authorized distributor for Elgin, Vactor, Superior and the many other products Ben-Ko-Matic has represented over the years. We are a healthy company and, with support from our customers, we will continue to grow and service your needs.

Now, we are excited and ready to build our company for the future; our TEAM has a lot of new ideas and plans. One important change you will see in the coming months is that our name will change to “Owen Equipment.” Our image and our appearance will also be changing with a new company logo and company colors. Soon, the difference between us and our competition will be black and white.

I am confident you will see many improvements in every department. We are evaluating our parts inventory now to increase the fill rate so that we will have the right parts on hand for our customers every time. Our service departments will be expanding to make sure we have ample manpower available to maintain and repair your equipment in a timely manner. Our team is here for one reason: to take care of you, our customer. We realize that without you we have no business.

I would like to say “Thank you” for all your past business. If you ever have any concerns, or if you would like to pass along any suggestions you have for us, please feel free to call me anytime. I look forward to meeting as many of you as I can over the next months and creating a relationship that will last for years to come.
Thank you,

Earl A. Rose
(503) 255-9055 - Office
(503) 704-2151 – Mobile