The Merrill Area Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting Wednesday, welcoming McCoy Construction & Forestry (MCF) to the Merrill business community. The McCoy Group, Inc., purchased the Merrill facility at 601 N. Pine Ridge Ave. from Nortrax, Inc. in May 2018. The Merrill store was among seven Nortrax John Deere Construction and Forestry stores purchased by McCoy in the deal.
With the purchase, McCoy Group, Inc. a family-owned company based in Dubuque, IA, expanded its business base, subsequently creating the MCF division to operate the facilities in Escanaba, MI; Merrill, Chippewa Falls and Ashland, WI; and Duluth, Grand Rapids and Bemidji, MN. MCF retains the current 131 Nortrax employees as part of the acquisition.
The McCoy Group’s new construction and forestry division joins a growing organization that is already home to seven subsidiaries, including Midwest-based Freightliner dealerships Truck Country and Stoops, and transportation focused companies, Foodliner, Quest Liner and McCoy NationaLease.
“The acquisition and subsequent formation of McCoy Construction & Forestry has provided our organization with an opportunity to diversify our business into an industry that is similar in many ways,” Greg McCoy, president and CEO of McCoy Group, said in announcing the acquisition. “We are proud and excited to be partnering with John Deere, whose brand is one of the strongest in the world for delivering world-class products and services to its customers. It’s also an organization that shares the same McCoy Group values of integrity, honesty, quality, innovation and, above all, commitment to the customer.”
Jeff Herkert, MCF president, added, “A constant over the past six decades has been the McCoy Group’s customer-driven philosophy. Customers will see the same commitment to service under the new ownership group. As we look forward to fostering relationships and growing our team, we are excited by the possibilities this new chapter brings for our customers, teammates, John Deere and the entire McCoy Group family.”
Nortrax opened the brand new, state-of-the-art, 20,000-square-foot Merrill facility in March 2017. The Merrill location replaced Nortrax operations in Mosinee and Monico.
Now under MCF ownership, the Merrill facility specializes in offering Construction and Forestry, Commercial Work Products and Production Class heavy machinery manufactured by Deere & Company. From large haul trucks and excavators, which are often used in quarry and mining operations; to smaller commercial class machinery, such as skid steers and compact loaders; the Merrill facility can serve any need in their area of expertise. In addition, the facility offers full service parts and labor on all equipment sold.