James Powell established the Powell Companies more than 40 years ago, in 1969, around two core segments—crane rental and steel erection—with new units later added to the business including horizontal centrifuge manufacturer Decanter, a coal and minerals processing engineering and construction division, and an IT business, Powell Technologies.
Under the current deal, the crane rental business will transfer to Barnhart, while Powell retains the remaining businesses.
Powell’s crane fleet includes boom trucks up to 28USt capacity, all terrains from 22–300USt, and conventional truck cranes with capacities of up to 150USt, working from depots in Knoxville and Johnson City, Tennessee. Prior to the deal, Barnhart had 23 branches across the US, including locations in Knoxville and Kingsport, Tennessee. Barnhart’s crane fleet includes heavy lift cranes with capacities up to 1,760USt, mobile cranes, rigging systems, and special transport equipment.
Barnhart CEO Alan Barnhart said, “We feel like this is a win/win for everyone involved. This agreement will give our current customers access to a larger equipment inventory. As for the former customers of Powell’s Crane Division, we are going to work hard to build a relationship with them and earn their business. In the end we think they will be very pleased with the multitude of new services and equipment we can provide.”
