H&K Equipment, a Pittsburgh-based forklift and material handling equipment distributor, announced that it has launched the H&K Equipment Group. H&K Equipment, the company said, is the flagship business of an affiliation of eight independent companies united under common ownership. The H&K Equipment Group brings each of these companies together for the first time to showcase the full reach and scope of their products and services. The company unveiled the new designation at AISTech 2019 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.

“We have eight companies operating in overlapping markets,” Peter Cicero, vice-president of H&K Equipment said. “Each of our companies has carved out their niche, but we haven’t had a good way to talk about how they intersect. Taken together, our companies comprise one of the biggest and fastest growing material handling businesses in this part of the country.”

The group, which includes two material handling and industrial floor cleaning equipment dealerships, an overhead crane manufacturer, an industrial electromagnet manufacturer, a full-service terminal tractor dealership, a transportation and logistics service, and a granite countertop fabricating company, maintains 10 locations throughout Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Baltimore, upstate New York, and Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley. The companies employ a combined workforce of 325 and service nearly all the Mid-Atlantic United States.

Kevin Koch, vice-president of Taylor Northeast, which became H&K Equipment’s first affiliate company in 1989, added that the purpose of the H&K Equipment Group was to better communicate how the companies complement each other.

“You might have a customer renting a forklift from me, and that same customer is using a bridge crane that our crane company fabricated to run an electromagnet that our magnet company designed and built,” Koch said. “Plus, everything was delivered to the customer’s location by our own transportation team, and that customer has no idea that it all came from us, that together we provide all these services.”

Cicero noted that the structure of H&K Equipment’s corporate network is not changing but added that he expects the H&K Equipment Group concept to be a valuable cross-promotional tool.

“There’s almost nowhere we do business where there isn’t a wide range of equipment and services that our companies can provide that customer. It’s never just one truck or one service call. Educating the public about our full capabilities is going to be extremely beneficial,” Cicero said.

The H&K Equipment Group kicked off the new messaging at AISTech 2019, a steel industry exposition that took place May 6th through 9th in Pittsburgh. The group’s island booth featured four pillars representing each of its primary member companies and was designed to provide a visual demonstration of the relationships between each. The booth also included a video overview of the H&K Equipment Group as well as a virtual reality engagement featuring different pieces of material handling equipment.

“AISTech was a few miles from our headquarters this time,” Koch said of the annual event, which is held in a different city each year but often returns to Pittsburgh. “And the steel industry is always an important market for what we do. Many of our bigger customers, vendors, and competitors were exhibiting. There really isn’t a better venue for launching our new group identity.”

The group also released a website, www.hkequipmentgroup.com, to illustrate the relationships and overlap between each company. The website includes an interactive timeline detailing the histories of the companies going back to 1893.

“There’s a lot of history in this company,” Cicero said. “H&K Equipment was founded in 1983, but it has connections that go back to 1935, and with Elwell-Parker, which is now part of our group, our legacy goes clear back to 1893. The H&K Equipment Group is our next chapter.”

The Affiliated Companies of the H&K Equipment Group

• H&K Equipment – Founded 1983: Material handling and industrial floor cleaning equipment
• Taylor Northeast – Founded 1989: Material handling and industrial floor cleaning equipment
• Yard Truck Specialists – Founded 1986: Terminal tractors and equipment
• Magnetic Lifting Technologies US – Founded 2010: Industrial electromagnets
• D&S Hoist and Crane – Founded 1998: Overhead cranes and lifting devices
• Premier Granite & Stone – Founded 2004: Stone countertop fabrication and installation
• CicKo Transportation – Founded 2001: Logistics and transportation
• Elwell-Parker – Founded 1893: Material handling equipment manufacturing