McCONNELLSBURG, Pa. - National Equipment Services will break ground this month for a new rebuild center for aerial work platforms in McConnellsburg, Pa., RER has learned. The property is across the street from the headquarters of aerial manufacturer JLG Industries, a major NES supplier.

Steve Seiders, general manager and designer of NES' first rebuild center in Paducah, Ky., said the facility, which he hopes will be ready by September, will be improved over the Paducah site. "We won't need to tow product or use forktrucks," Seiders told RER. "It will be 450 feet long, 2 1/2 times longer than the Paducah facility, and we'll use overhead cranes to move everything along."

Seiders said the presence of JLG, Grove and several other equipment manufacturers in the area made the region attractive. "There are quite a few former JLG and Grove workers interested in working for us, and that makes the training curve much smaller," Seiders said. "And the state has many attractive programs, tax benefits and low-interest loans to attract industry." NES owns three major aerial specialists in the Northeast: Shaughnessy Crane Service, Cormier Equipment and Albany Ladder.

The re-manufacturing of used aerial equipment has been part of NES' operating strategy and will play an even more significant role in the coming years with large quantities of late-model equipment available at relatively low prices. Seiders said the Paducah facility re-manufactured 755 units last year, and he expects it to top 1,000 this year.

Evanston, Ill.-based NES is No. 7 on the RER 100.