|
|
|
|
|
|
CDC/BME Timeline
|
|
|
1944 |
|
BOLLINGER COUNTY Equipment Company is founded by Buford Crader
and partners in Bollinger County, Missouri, as an International Harvester
retailer dealing in farm machinery and motor trucks |
|
|
1951 |
|
BUFORD CRADER buys out his partners and renames the business Crader
Equipment Company. The motor truck franchise is discontinued; the
business sells only farm equipment and refrigeration |
|
|
1952 |
|
DON CRADER, age 19, joins the company and the business becomes
a father and son partnership |
|
|
1958 |
|
CRADER EQUIPMENT becomes a STIHL retailer |
|
|
1961 |
|
CRADER DISTRIBUTING Company is formed as a distributorship covering
parts of Missouri and Illinois for STIHL chain saws and other related
items |
|
|
1968 |
|
BUFORD CRADER retires |
|
|
1968 |
|
CRADER EQUIPMENT and Crader Distributing move into their new facility,
which was constructed on an 11-acre tract of land east of the city limits
of Marble Hill (Bollinger County) |
|
|
1969 |
|
CRADER DISTRIBUTING Company incorporates |
|
|
1971 |
|
STAN CRADER, Don's 16 year old son, joined Crader Distributing
as parttime STIHL technician |
|
|
1972 |
|
TOTAL SALES exceed $1,000,000 |
|
|
1975 |
|
NEW CONSTRUCTION doubles the size of the existing wholesale warehouse
to accommodate growing wholesale sales |
|
|
1977 |
|
STAN CRADER joins the company full time, working in Marketing
Management and Information Systems |
|
|
1977 |
|
VAL CRADER, age 15, begins working in the company parttime as
a STIHL technician |
|
|
1978 |
|
ADDITIONAL EXPANSION again doubles the size of the wholesale warehouse
to accomodate burgeoning sales |
|
|
1978 |
|
AN IBM computer is installed for all wholesale billing, inventory
and accounting, making CDC one of the first distributorships in the OPE
industry to utilize a computer in its day-to-day operations |
|
|
1982 |
|
BECKY CRADER, age 15, begins working in the company parttime in
customer service |
|
|
1984 |
|
VAL CRADER joins the company full time as controller |
|
|
1984 |
|
CDC DROPS OTHER OPE product lines and becomes an exclusive distributor
of STIHL Outdoor Power Equipment |
|
|
1986 |
|
CENTRAL EQUIPMENT COMPANY is purchased, expanding the CDC's Missouri/Illinois
territiry to include most of Kansas and Nebraska. |
|
|
1987 |
|
CENTRAL EQUIPMENT merges with Crader Distributing Company |
|
|
1987 |
|
ALL RETAIL operations cease when CRADER EQUIPMENT COMPANY officially
closes |
|
|
1988 |
|
THE PURCHASE of the Ross-Frazer territory expands CDC's territory
to include all of Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska, as well as the Southern
half of Illinois |
|
|
1988 |
|
THE CRADERS PURCHASE STIHL territory in Texas, forming a new
corporation, Blue Mountain Equipment, which operates out of Dallas |
|
|
1990 |
|
KAISER MIDWEST is formed as a holding company, owning both CDC,
BME, and other corporations |
|
|
1991 |
|
BLUE MOUNTAIN Equipment acquires STIHL territory in Oklahoma |
|
|
1992 |
|
CRADER DISTRIBUTING is honored by STIHL, Inc., with STIHL's Distributor
of the Year award |
|
|
1994 |
|
CDC IS NAMED Mississippi Valley Family Business of the Year |
|
|
1995 |
|
CDC BUILDS new 45,000 square foot facility in Marble Hill, Missouri |
|
|
1996 |
|
BLUE MOUNTAIN moves its operations from Dallas to the 30,000 square
foot Shelby Building McKinney, Texas |
|
|
1999 |
|
CDC/BME SALES exceed $50,000,000 |
|
|
2000 |
|
BLUE MOUNTAIN expands the Shelby building, adding 20,000 square
feet to its warehouse |
|
|
