It's Official: We've just increased our footprint! 

Owen Equipment is now bringing our sales, service and parts expertise for Vactor and Elgin to the northern California and northwest Nevada regions.

In June 2009, Federal Signal Corporation (the parent corporation of Elgin and Vactor) asked Owen Equipment Company to assist in a dealer transition by providing parts sales to the region.  In our continuing effort to provide the best local service possible, we formed a separate California corporation, "Owen Equipment Sales" with its own Federal Tax ID and California vehicle dealer's license.  Since September 1, 2009, Owen Equipment Sales has been the entity providing parts and service to Elgin and Vactor customers in the region.

Now, Owen Equipment Sales is officially the exclusive dealer for Elgin street sweepers and Vactor sewer cleaners.  We are proud to have been chosen to represent Elgin and Vactor in the territory and we are excited for the opportunity to exceed expectations for our new customers in California and Nevada by providing top-quality products backed by unmatched service and support. 

Leading the California / Nevada operation is Regional Manager (and partner), Ed Hodges.  Many California customers know Ed from his long history in the Industry – he's been working with Elgin and Vactor for the last 15 years of his career and we're delighted that he is now a part of the Owen family. 

Over the past few months, we have been receiving rave reviews about our two service technicians, Ralph Cortez and Ryan Myers, as they have been providing on-site service and repairs to customers all over the region. Rounding out the team are three industry experienced sales representatives joining our team February 1st.

For the immediate future, the parts and service facility will remain at 1350 Vinci Avenue in Sacramento.  For those customers requiring “will call” parts, we will have an in-house parts representative beginning in March to manage our $400,000 initial parts inventory.  Until then, Ralph and Ryan will make themselves available for any will-call pickups.  Billing will continue to be performed by the Owen Equipment Company team in Portland, as it has been since June.  

Owen Equipment Sales currently has two brand-new Vactor 2100 Plus units on-site and ready for demo in California; over the next four months, our rental and demo fleet will grow to over $3.5 million.  The Owen Equipment policy of renting only late-model and impeccably maintained equipment will extend into the new California operation: every sweeper goes on rent with a brand-new set of brooms and every sewer cleaner operates at factory specifications before leaving our facility.

As we move forward, we will be offering more product lines that complement Elgin and Vactor.  Manufacturers like; Epoke, H.D. Industries and Metrotech have already extended our dealership and there are a few more that we are currently in discussions with to represent their products in the new territory.  As always, we will only represent the best in each product line and we will not take on any products that detract from our ability to provide excellent service and attention to our core customers.

Our immediate goal is to reach out to all of the Elgin and Vactor customers that have worked with the previous dealership (Ricker Machinery Company).  Over the next several months, we will be calling and visiting you to see what we can do to earn your business. 

We will post updates to the web site whenever anything new arises.  Until then, if you have any questions or anything you'd like to discuss, please feel free to give us a call!

• Earl A. Rose, President – (503) 704-2151
• Ed Hodges, Regional Manager - (707) 237-1020
• Matt Wlodarczyk, CFO and Bid Specialist - (360) 901-4271
• Kitty Scott, Business & Marketing Manager - (503) 703-4562