Don Schmid, founder of Santa Ana, Calif.-based heavy equipment rental specialist Ecco Equipment, died of cancer last month at the age of 78. Schmid founded Ecco Construction in 1958. The company specialized in construction of reservoirs, flood control and bridge projects. Ecco got into rentals by accident when a crane operator, during a period of slow utilization, got Schmid’s permission to rent an idle crane to another contractor. When Ecco needed it for a project and found it was still in use by the renter, it bought more and the cycle began, leading to rental as an ongoing business.
Eventually earthmoving equipment became Ecco’s primary fleet. The company expanded to Visalia, Calif.; Riverside, Calif.; Las Vegas; Phoenix; Stockton, Calif.; Salt Lake City; Boise, Idaho; Sacramento, Calif., and others.
Ecco grew to be one of the industry’s leading heavy equipment rental companies, and is currently No. 45 on the RER 100.
Schmid is survived by his wife Marty, daughters Carol Reeder, Bonnie McCormick and Laura Cook, son David Schmid, and 11 grandchildren.
