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HomeMy WebLinkAbout58-06 Alban Tractor - Caterpilar Maint. & Sales - Stonewall - Backfile (2)rl - - -------- Alhan Tractor Company Inc. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------- LBAN TRACTOR COMPANY INC., A FOURTH —GENERATION FAMILY FIRM THAT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- celebrated its loth anniversary in 1997, is one of America's oldest and -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- largest distributors of Caterpillar construction equipment. Additionally, the Baltimore -based company has been rebuilding the products it --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- sells —from bu Under the leadership of James "Jamie" Alban IV, Alban Tractor Company today employs more than 46o people —a third of whom have worked at the company for more than two decades. As he guides the company through a period of aggres- sive growth, Alban —like his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather before him —remains committed to honoring time -tested traditions. "We're a 19gos company with an old-fashioned family sense," he says. The Early Years n 1917, James C. Alban was an automotive toolmaker with an entrepreneurial spirit. During a time when commercial equip- ment focused mainly on farming, the Pennsylvania native recognized that along with the invention of the JAMES C. ALBAN (ABOVE, AT RIGHT) FOUNDED ALBAN TRACTOR IN 1922. FOUR GENERATIONS OF ALBANS HAVE LED THE FAMILTY BUSINESS. THREE OF THOSE GENERATIONS INCLUDE FROM LEFT: JAMES "JAMIE" ALBAN IV, JAMES C. "BUCK" ALBAN JP_, AND JAMES C. ALBAN III (RIGHT). lldozers to excavators to car came a need for good roads and the equipment it would take to build them. He left his job at a local Cadillac dealership and went to work for a tractor wholesaler. Alban joined forces with Zachariah Johnson in 1922 to form Alban & Johnson. Three years later, as the Caterpillar Corpora- tion emerged as an industry giant, Alban & Johnson became a dealer for a New York -based Caterpillar distributor. Johnson retired in 1927, and Alban formed his own company. In its first year, Alban's only employee was his wife, Clara. Operations netted just $20,000. But despite the Great Depression, the business began a long history of steady growth, eventually being named direct Caterpillar distribu- tor for Maryland, Delaware, the tr ucks—tor some 40 years. District of Columbia, and Virginia's eastern shore. The World War II era marked an explosion of construction projects related to the military and spin-off projects following the war's end. Soldiers, who had learned to use industrial equipment during the war, returned home and opened their own construction companies. And, perhaps more important, the era marked the creation of the interstate highway system. Alban Tractor's own growth spurt began in i94o, when it opened a sales and service facility in Salisbury. In 1945, the company took on re- sponsibility for sales and service in northern Virginia, opening a branch in Arlington. A few years later, Alban Tractor dedicated itself exclusively to Caterpillar. The postwar era also included the creation of Alban's Undercar- riage Repair Division. While most companies were replacing under- carriages, Alban became one of the first distributors to economically and efficiently rebuild the under- carriages of Caterpillar's track -type tractors. Other milestones included the construction of a new facility on Pulaski Highway in 1948; west- ward expansion into Frederick in 1955; and adoption of a profit- sharing plan for employees in 1957- Throughout the next three decades, Alban Tractor continued to open new facilities throughout Maryland and Virginia. Alban Engine Power Systems, a sales and service facility for marine and industrial truck engines, was created in the 1970s. Today, the company is one of the East Coast's largest distributors of Caterpillar construction equip- ment, as well as a leader in the field of industrial reconstruction and repair. In 1997, Alban created its state-of-the-art Remanufacturing Center, which has enabled Alban to offer new services to new cus- tomers, including hydraulic repair for SCM Chemicals and Bethlehem Steel's shipyard, component rebuild- ing for General Motors factory equipment, and cylinder rebuild- ing for Dundalk Marine Terminal. Honoring Community and Family Roots Ever since James and Clara Alban founded Alban Tractor Company, the family has continued its rich tradition of lead- ership. James and Clara's son, James C. `Buck" Alban Jr., joined the family firm in 1938. James C. Alban III joined the company in 1961 and became president in 1983. His son, Jamie Alban, came to work for Alban Tractor Company in 1992. Upon his father's retirement in 1997, Jamie Alban assumed the post of company president. Through four generations of Alban leadership, the company has maintained close ties to both its employees and its hometown. "As a family, we are very visible and very involved," Jamie Alban says. At the same time, company employ- ees are treated as family. Benefits are generous; for more than 40 years, Alban Tractor Company has maintained a pension and profit- sharing plan for employees, and it added a 401(k) provision a few years ago. End -of -year bonuses are common for all employees, including those who work for an hourly wage. A wide range of programs — from athletics to safety seminars to valued service awards —keeps the family way of doing business alive. The approach pays off: In addition to the Albans, the staff itself is made up of quite a few second -genera- tion families. Alban Tractor is also commit- ted to community causes, support- ing the United Way Campaign for Central Maryland for, many years. Individual family members concen- trate their community efforts in the health and education arena, with family involvement in the Kennedy - Krieger Institute, Make -A -Wish Foundation, Boys' Latin School, Franklin Square Hospital, Mary- land Historical Society, and Associ- ated Catholic Charities. Alban Tractor Company also donates generously to the Baltimore Community Foun- dation, which specializes in fund- ing for education and health care. Since its beginnings in 1927, Alban Tractor has served the Balti- more area and much of the East Coast by distributing, servicing, and rebuilding the construction equipment that has kept a country on the move. ALBAN TRACTOR COMPANY, A FOURTH -GENERATION FAMILY FIRM THAT CELEBRATED ITS 70TH ANNIVER- SARY IN 1997, IS ONE OF AMERICA'S OLDEST AND LARGEST DISTRIBUTORS OF CATERPILLAR CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT. B A L T I M 0 R E C H A R M C I T Y