Risk & Business Magazine Cain Insurance Fall 2016 | Page 30

A LOOK BACK

BY: DAVE SMITH
SELCO EQUIPMENT
SALES LTD

Selco Equipment Sales Ltd.
A Look Back

S

ELCO Equipment Sales Ltd.,
was incorporated by my father,
John (Jack) D. Smith, in 1973.
With over 20 years of sales and
service experience in the Heavy
Equipment business under his belt, he
wanted to start a small business serving
customers he had known and worked with
for many years. From the beginning, he
intended for his family to follow in those
footsteps. I had spent my years obtaining
a Business Degree at UNB (BBA’82) which
I followed up with 7 years of what I may
call a post-graduate degree with a large
New Brunswick Company. My Dad had
always been holding out the hope that I
would someday join him at SELCO and, in
1989, I did. From the beginning, I was put
in charge of operations and had to learn
as I went, with guidance and help from my
father.
We started out as a team with a small
business model and gradually added the
KOBELCO, ATLAS COPCO / DYNAPAC,
TRAMAC, and DOOSAN product lines
through our alliance with Paul Equipment

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& Sons (2008). Constant growth and
expansion has been a key to our success.
Not only do we aim to secure new lines of
equipment from the manufacturers that
we work with, but we ensure that we can
provide replacement parts for those pieces
of equipment as well.
I was fortunate to have the support from
day one from my wife, Caroll, who also ran
her own business as a Lumber Trader and
my Dad, who had turned the reins over to
me from Day one. Dad maintained that if
I was going to learn the business I would
need to manage it from the start, he was
always there to help me.
Through our 43 years of business we have
experienced many changes. I have found
that we are in a constant state of flux and
one must constantly be looking for new
ways to address the rapidly changing needs
of our customers. What worked well last
month is history today, and we find we
need to change fast or be lost in the pack.
I have been fortunate to build a hardworking and loyal staff, each serving a very

important role in our operations. I have
also been fortunate to have made many
great friends whom have supported us for
many years. Finally, I have relied on a few
important mentors, accountants, lawyers,
insurers, and bankers who have guided me
through my 27 years in business. I guess
you could say that I have always had the
entrepreneurial spirit. +
Dave Smith is President of SELCO
Equipment Sales Ltd. SELCO is the
exclusive dealer in New Brunswick
for KOBELCO excavating equipment,
DYNAPAC compactors, planers, and
pavers, ATLAS COPCO light equipment
and TRAMAC Hydraulic equipment.
We also offer DOOSAN equipment
and have an extensive supply of used
equipment to meet your needs, large or
small. Financing can be done in-house
as well. We are located 5 km north of
Fredericton on Route 102, looking over
the St. John River Valley at Island View,
New Brunswick.