Southeastern Equipment Company, Inc. was founded literally on a shoestring by William L. and Nancy A. Baker. William (Bill) Baker, a 1957 graduate of Muskingum College, began his career working for his father, a general excavating contractor, in Old Washington, Ohio. After a short period of time, Bill decided that sales would be more desirable, so with his new wife, Nancy, he began his own company, Southeastern Equipment Company, Inc. Driving an old pick-up truck, he went to the Shunk Manufacturing Company in Bucyrus, Ohio, and convinced the officials of Shunk to consign a load of motor grader blades for sale to political divisions, namely local townships and county engineering departments. Payment for the previous load was paid to Shunk with the receipt of each additional load. The personal contact achieved by Bill throughout the southeastern quarter of the state of Ohio, and the need for a major road equipment sales and service business, prompted him to pursue the Adams Motor Grader Company (later known as LeTourneau-Westinghouse) in the spring of 1958, for the franchise in the area of Ohio where Bill had become known. Immediately, he obtained the franchise from the J.I. Case Company for their line of construction equipment. The multi-line Southeastern was housed in an old Quonset hut in Old Washington, Ohio, seven miles east of Cambridge, until a new building was constructed, three miles east of Cambridge on U.S. 40, in 1964. In 1958 a mechanic was hired, while Bill and Nancy continued to work the business. In 1960 a recent college graduate, Bill Cowden, was recruited as Bill's first sales associate. The entire southeastern section of the state, a territory covering the counties from Gallipolis north to Zanesville, the counties northward to New Philadelphia, and then the counties eastward to Steubenville in Jefferson County, was worked from the Cambridge location until 1972. In October 1972, an old service station on SR7 (north of Gallipolis) was converted into Southeastern's first branch office, and James Allen of Gallipolis was hired as manager-operator. The next expansion came in 1977 with the purchase of the J.I. Case company stores in Brookfield and North Canton, Ohio. Consolidation of the two stores was done in North Canton, and the present facilities, located on six acres of land visible from 1-77, were occupied in the fall of 1979 with Charles Patterson, manager. The business continued to grow and to become well known in the field; consequently, in 1980, Southeastern purchased King Equipment Company which has three store locations: Dublin, Ohio, Monroe, Ohio and Burlington, Kentucky. According to Charles Patterson, a 25-year employee and current vice-president, "We completed the deal in November of 1980. We took on responsibilities for those stores and doubled the size of the company overnight. Picking up the Columbus and Cincinnati markets gave us a real presence." With the purchase of King Equipment, Southeastern was able to incorporate equipment lines which were previously unobtainable. Those lines included E. D. Etnyre Company, Athey (travel loaders), Galion, and most importantly, King's J.I. Case Company franchise. King's Galion account covered Ohio from 1-70 southward and eastward into Southeastern's territory. By adding the Galion account, Southeastern also made a deal to acquire the old W. W. Williams territory in the Toledo area for Galion. From that point, Southeastern's expansion began in earnest with the relocation of a store from Maumee (south of Toledo) to Perrysburg in 1983, and with the purchase of two Case facilities in the Cleveland area in 1984. Those two store locations were consolidated into the location at Brunswick, Ohio. "The Cleveland market area was the 13th largest market in America at the time, and the acquisitions there doubled our business a second time," Patterson said. Still in a growth pattern, Southeastern leased a facility at Mentor in 1986 in order to follow through with a Case Corporation plan to be represented to the east of Cleveland. In 1988, Southeastern moved into its present location in Mentor. In 1990, a decision was made to expand westward into Indiana with two locations, one in Ft. Wayne and one in Indianapolis. "We were able to go to Indiana with only the Kobelco account," Patterson remarked. "Shortly afterwards, Etnyre was kind enough to let us have their product in Indiana as well as Ohio, and we picked up the Bomag roller account." Since that time, Southeastern has been able to obtain other lines in Indiana: New Holland Construction, New Holland Ag tractors, Terex trucks and scrapers, Gradall telescopic excavators, Alamo mowers and Broce brooms. A majority of these lines are available at all three Indiana locations. Finding other niches in Ohio, Southeastern opened a branch at Mansfield in 1995, Heath in 1997, Marietta in 1999, Evansville, IN in 2001 and Brilliant in 2003. Most recently, Southeasterne Equipment has expanded into Michigan with locations in Holt and Novi. All of this expansion was done for one basic reason: to more fully service Southeastern's growing customer base. From studying the construction industry for years, Bill has learned that the average customer will only make a one-hour drive whether it's for parts, service, or to purchase equipment. Southeastern has made every effort to locate its facilities in convenient locations with visibility from major and/or interstate highways. Since 1957, Southeastern has grown from two employees (Bill and Nancy Baker) to over 200 employees and from one store covering the southeastern quarter of Ohio to 18 stores covering Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan. u