Walker Machinery sold Hope not bad for Kanawha (Charleston: taxes, costs)

[vec101]

I'm in shock - Walker Machinery sold to a Ky company. The family had the business for over 59 years. They employ about 700 and provide good pay in the Kanawha Valley. Let's hope nothing/not much changes.

Don't know if this has anything to do with the WV sale, but, speaking of Cat (Walker sells Caterpillar)......
remember this from Feb 2009:

President Obama today repeated the claim.... the CEO of Caterpillar, Inc., "said that if Congress passes our plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid off." ........
..........
But after the president left the event, Owens said the exact opposite.
......... D'oh! Caterpillar CEO Contradicts President on Whether Stimulus Will Allow Him to Re-Hire Laid Off Workers - Political Punch

And WHAT is up with the Cat CEO ---- he was a big supporter of Cap & Trade - WHAT was the man thinking????????

....... challenged senior Caterpillar, Inc. officials ..........asking them to explain Caterpillar's decision to join the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), which is lobbying for caps on carbon dioxide emissions.
Caterpillar CEO Confronted at Company Stockholder Meeting for Joining Environmentalist Lobbying Group

Owens’s promotion of global warming legislation has far-reaching consequences: the potential to cause irreparable harm to his company, customers, employees and our economy.

After years of supporting a national law to limit carbon dioxide emissions through participation in the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) – a lobbying coalition pushing cap-and-trade legislation – Owens realized the final bill would harm his company.
Tom Borelli : Caterpillar CEO Jim Owens: Digging a Cap-and-Trade Hole for America - Townhall.com

Caterpillar CEO James Owens admitted Wednesday at his company’s annual stockholder meeting that the carbon caps his company supports could hurt the U.S., U.S. heavy industry and Caterpillar itself.
Caterpillar CEO Commits to Pro-Cap-and-Trade Lobbying Course While Admitting Risk to USA and His Own Corporation; Says Stockholders Who Object Can Just Sell Their Stock : Conservative Zone (http://conservativezone.com/blog/2009/06/11/caterpillar-ceo-commits-to-pro-cap-and-trade-lobbying-course-while-admitting-risk-to-usa-and-his-own-corporation-says-stockholders-who-object-can-just-sell-their-stock/ - broken link)

Duh!!!

The newspaper says the family has been looking to sell for a good while and this offer came up.

So perhaps none of what is going on has anything to do with the sale.
But.....
it would have to be pretty crazy selling a product for an industry that the CEO of the product you are selling is fighting against.

[CTMountaineer]

Who bought them, and in what part of Kentucky are they located?

I don't see how it can be a good thing.

[vec101]

Boyd Co. LLC of Louisville, Ky

Boyd Co. is a new company that recently took over ownership of Whayne Supply Co. in Louisville, Ky.
Boyd Co.'s owner, Monty L. Boyd, is a former Caterpillar employee and has been involved with Whayne Supply since 1984, ...........
was promoted in February 2005 to president and CEO of Whayne Supply.
http://www.dailymail.com/News/Kanawha/200912140548

[snorpus]

It's not necessarily bad. Frequently, family owned businesses get to the point where the original owners are ready to retire, but all their assets are tied up in the business. Maybe no one in the next generation wants to take over the business. Unfortunately, federal estate taxes have to be paid in cash, not stock.

The same thing happened around here. The Beckwith Company had been the Cat dealer for much of WPa for decades, but they sold a couple of years ago to Cleveland Brothers. Not much has changed other than the signs on the trucks.

[CTMountaineer]

Yeah, I read in the Charleston paper where they essentially will operate the business as is... so it shouldn't have much of a negative impact. In all probability they'll move some of the administrative work to their corporate hq.

[Silkdashocker]

Walker Machinery is one of my employers larger customers, so i hope they don't move too much of it's operation out of state.

[CTMountaineer]

I think in situations like this what you get is generally things like payroll and bookeeping functions get moved to the corporate headquarters, other things stay as they are, so it shouldn't have much of a negative effect. They will cut costs in areas they can control, but they can't do that with actual operations. Who knows, it might even bring about an increase in that category.