ROANOKA, Va. — The management team of J.W. Burress, a Roanoka, Va.-based distributor, recently acquired the company from AMECO, an equipment rental and fleet management services company owned by Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based Fluor Corp.

Fluor had been attempting to divest the distributor portion of AMECO's business since August 2001.

The existing senior management group of the dealership formed JWB Acquisition Inc. to facilitate the purchase of the company. The dealership will continue to do business as J.W. Burress Inc. and will continue to operate its 10 branches in the Carolinas, Virginia and Maryland.

J.W. Burress was founded in 1934 in Roanoka, Va., by Jack Burress to supply drilling equipment for quarries and construction projects. AMECO, then known as American Equipment Co., acquired the company in 1997. Richard Dudley was appointed president and CEO in January 2001.

The new ownership team consists of Dudley, William Daly, Richard Graves, Roy Perry and Steven Reynolds.

JWB represents Manitowoc, Grove and National cranes, Hitachi excavators, Hitachi-Euclid rigid frame haul trucks, Kawasaki wheel loaders, Dynapac compaction and paving equipment, Finn hydroseeders, Gradall excavators, Vibromax compaction equipment, Magnum demolition hammers, Daewoo excavators and loaders, and more. It has a large rental fleet, especially in excavators, hydraulic cranes and compaction rollers.