Holt Caterpillar provided four backhoes for a community clean-up effort in West, Texas, where a massive April explosion at a fertilizer plant destroyed blocks of residences, a nursing home, an apartment complex and schools, taking the lives of 15 people.
Several Holt employees were impacted by the explosion, with the homes of welder Scott Van Zandt; lead technician James Hromadka and machine parts warehouse worker Teddy Clark either completely destroyed or seriously damaged. Holt Cat employees contributed a significant sum through payroll deductions to assist their co-workers.
Employees from Holt’s Waco facility took immediate action after the explosion, providing supplies and purchasing basic toiletry items for community residents who had to vacate their homes quickly.
Holt staff also participated in clean-up efforts after last month’s tornados in Moore, Okla. Holt Cat provided a 2-MW Caterpillar power module, getting the trailer-mounted generator on the road to Moore within hours of the tornado in response to a water shortage in the community as a result of downed power lines that would take days to restore.
After additional tornados struck the Oklahoma City area, Holt Power Systems rental representative Steve Watkins received a midnight call requesting several gensets to support a major retail chain that had lost power. By the next afternoon, Holt Power Systems had a 500kW, a 1,000 kW and two 800 kW gensets on the road to Oklahoma City.
Holt Caterpillar, one of the largest Caterpillar dealers in the United States is based in San Antonio and is No. 15 on the RER 100.
