The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

17 · Thursday, April 8, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com New truck lifts local firm out of recession By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Amid recession woes and the sputtering Ontario manufacturing sector, one local company is keeping itself competitive with some ingenuity. Oakville's High Reach Inc., which has been in the industrial equipment distribution and lift truck manufacturing business for more than 20 years, has designed and built its own innovative industrial tool. "(It) is increasing our range, our capability and our market is now world-wide as opposed to being relatively local (North American)," said Spencer Hawks, High Reach's sales manager. The company built a highcapacity lift truck, capable of moving 120,000 pounds, and sold its first unit to an Australian company. The lift truck was shipped in March. "Sales in general, now, of any company in North America have to be focused world-wide. There is no such thing as a local market to rely on," Hawks said. "The particular truck has a number of innovations on it. By innovating and expanding our product line we offer greater value to the customers and we definitely have an edge over any competitors." Though this is only the first sale of the new high-capacity lift truck, Hawks said his company can build two more right away. High Reach president Santo De Arcangelis said the designs for the new lift truck came amid the recession. "There was a slow down in business, so it was a great time to diversify," he said. "We didn't lay off people. We actually hired." The company currently has a staff of 12 people, he said. The first lift truck was sold to Johnstons Transport, based in Sydney, Australia. Martin Grant, spokesperson for Johnstons, who came to Oakville to pick up the order, said the Australian transport company will use the lift truck for moving large machinery. "It (the lift truck) is actually quite small," Grant said. "It's a big lifter, but in a small size. That's why we want it, because it can physically lift a lot of weight and gets inside the buildings. Under normal circumstances for a machine to lift as much, it would be three times bigger." Hawks said this lift truck (which looks like a large forklift) is for moving machinery. If you can move very large pieces as one it's a substantial benefit." De Arcangelis said in order for the lift truck to accommo- date large lift-loads it has weights that can be attached to its rear to balance weight distribution. Further design elements include large wheels to distribute the truck's footprint weight. De Arcangelis added the lift truck is capable of lifting objects as heavy as 60 Ford F-150 trucks stacked together. Another reason why this new machine is exciting for staff at High Reach is that it was designed and built at their facility, whereas in years before the company did re-builds of existing machinery. "We've fabricated some of the parts here," Hawks said. "Some components are purchased, but the steel was bought locally." High Reach began as a dealRIZIERO VERTOLLI / OAKVILLE BEAVER er of various types of equipHIGH REACH: A high-capacity lift truck, built in Oakville, was recently shipped to Australia. ment, such as the Broderson Martin Grant, right, is from Johnston Transport, the Australian company that purchased the lift truck. line of industrial carry deck With him is Sean Neilson, left, from High Reach Inc., and one of the main people involved in the mancranes and Versa-Lift forklift ufacturing of this new unit in Oakville. trucks. It later turned to manufacturing as well. "Over the years we've produced many trucks. We have a history of 20 years or more producing very high-capacity lift trucks," Hawks said. "We're dealers for other types of equipment and based on that we have had the opportunity to increase our profile and increase our sales by getting into bigger lift trucks."