CELEBRATING 60 YEARS AS A CAT DEALER!

An open letter from Western States’ CEO Tom Terteling to all Western States Equipment employees.

When a company celebrates 60 years of doing business, it’s important to look back and give some thought to the reasons for such longevity. So, as this month marks our 60th year as a Cat Dealer, I wanted to share with you what I believe makes our company so distinct, and, therefore, so successful.

First and foremost – I believe that the people of Western States Cat are the most valuable asset we have.  While Cat is renowned for top-level quality and durable machines, it’s our people and the priority they place on customer satisfaction that sets us apart. Since 1956, we’ve listened to customers – and that doesn’t just mean nodding our heads and saying “yes”; it means really understanding the issues and doing whatever it takes to solve them. It means responding to every need and providing equipment and services that far surpass what our competitors offer.

The Western States culture is not something a company can achieve overnight. It takes decades of commitment and passion – anchored by the right people – to deliver upon such a valuable promise. We take immense pride in leveraging our people, machines, brainpower and pure determination to continue to cement our role as a top performing dealership. This performance is measured by how much our customers appreciate what we do for them.

The Western States vision of being a trustworthy, reliable advocate for our customers was seeded in the early 20th century. Our founder, and my great-grandfather J.A. Terteling, created what is now a legendary heavy construction company that, by the early 50’s, had built infrastructure across America. It was during that time frame, Western Equipment Company was formed to supply and maintain their huge fleet of machines. Recognizing their expertise, Caterpillar appointed the company as a dealer on February 16th 1956. Now, more than 60 years later, Western States Equipment Company remains a strong family-run business tightly focused on the needs of our customers and the communities in which we live, work and serve. The source of our endurance is people like you…people who understand what it takes to satisfy a customer, and maintain the type of work ethic to make that happen.

Today, as you know we have 13 locations and are over 750 strong, covering more than 191,000 square miles. We have over 60,000 active customers, and some of the newest facilities built around customer needs. This is truly a year to celebrate our 60 years of customer success, as well what each of you has collectively helped accomplish.

Thank you all for helping us achieve so much. You truly are built to deliver.

Tom Terteling