Country music, hot chicken and some of North America’s most infuriatingly rocky ground to dig in. What do those things have in common? They can all be found in Nashville, Tennessee! Also known as Music City, Nashville is home to dozens of honky tonks, legendary auditoriums – and an award-winning Takeuchi dealer, Parman Tractor & Equipment.
Parman Tractor is the reigning Takeuchi Dealer of The Year (2023) and winner of an inaugural Takeuchi Dealer 360° Award. After they earned all these accolades, we knew we had to go visit them and learn more about the story behind their success.
Employee owned and operated
Parman Holdings LLC is the parent company of Parman Tractor & Equipment, along with Parman Energy Group and other affiliated companies based in Nashville, TN. Parman has a long history in Tennessee, dating back to the 1930s. In addition to its Nashville location, Parman Tractor has a facility about 50 miles southwest in Columbia, Tennessee.
Created in 2019 after Parman Holdings acquired an existing dealership dating back to the 1970s, the company currently has 45 full-time employees who strive to uphold four core values – safety, awareness, quality and integrity – every day.
“Parman is unique in this industry because we’re employee owned,” said Colin Hockenberger, general manager of Parman tractor. “Our company’s call to action is known as ‘Totally Outrageous Customer Service,’ or ‘TOCS.’ Like Ted Lasso said, ‘It ain’t easy to explain, but you know it when you see it.’”
Jobsite visits
One thing is for sure, the staff at Parman knows their customers and has built strong relationships with them. For example, when we asked if we could visit some jobsites, all Colin and his team had to do was make a few calls, and their customers were happy to oblige that very day.
Our first stop was the I-40 interchange project at Donelson Pike which is being relocated to provide better access to the Nashville airport, I-40 and nearby businesses. The newly constructed exit will be a diverging diamond interchange, or DDI. Construction began in 2022 and is expected to finish up in August 2027. At the site, we saw two TB290 excavators scraping and hammering through the tough gray shale to provide a trench for utilities that would run under the new roadway
After we packed up our PPE, we jumped around town and visited several other jobsites, including a massive new residential build and a homestead running a TL12V2 track loader and TB290 excavator. Here, the homeowner uses Takeuchi equipment to maintain roads, pond, trees and landscaping. He’s able to tackle a truly endless list of tasks due to the “tool carrier” nature of the machines. The homeowner became familiar with Takeuchi by researching equipment online. In fact, he found the social pages of one our brand ambassadors, Brandon Johnson with Elite Earthworks. The homeowner loved what he saw so much that he wanted his own Takeuchi machines. It just goes to show that people really do value the opinions of influential experts when deciding which equipment brands and models to purchase.
On-the-job training
Takeuchi has been Parman’s primary equipment line since 2020, and the company has increased its Takeuchi sales every year since. Hockenberger says that’s because Takeuchi’s overall durability has helped Parman’s customers succeed time and time again. Hockenberger knows about the durability of our machines firsthand since he runs them quite frequently.
“I’m in a machine at least once a week, helping sales, service or rental,” Hockenberger said. “My personal favorite is the TL12R2 high-flow CTL. On all Takeuchi machines, I really enjoy the spacious cabs. I’m a bigger guy, and the cabs really are comfortable, whether you’re inside a mini ex or a track loader.”
Hockenberger and Parman Tractor’s president, Charley Chrichton, spent a combined 35 years with Parman Energy, joining Parman Tractor when the company diversified from fuels and lubricants into the equipment industry. Both had to learn the equipment business in a hurry, and they continue to learn more every day.
“The journey hasn’t been easy, and we’re constantly learning from our dealer friends and OEMs,” Hockenberger said. “It’s fun, though. I’ve always said you can’t drive a drum of oil when comparing sales of equipment to lubes and fuels. We enjoy representing the Takeuchi line, and every day is a new opportunity for us to introduce more people to these unique machines that can really help improve their efficiency and productivity.”
If you’re ever in the Nashville area, grab you some hot chicken and stop by Parman to visit their amazing team and see the TOCS philosophy on display for yourself.
About Takeuchi
Takeuchi is an ISO 9001 certified manufacturer of an extensive line of compact excavators and compact track loaders. Founded in 1963, Takeuchi was the first company to introduce the compact excavator, setting the stage for one of the highest growth product segments ever introduced in the compact equipment market. The compact excavator has become a main line product for both rental and construction/utility companies. Takeuchi continued to lead the compact construction industry with the introduction of the first compact track loader to North America.
For more information, please contact:
Lynette Von Minden, Swanson Russell
lynettev@swansonrussell.com
Phone: 402-437-6457
Stephen Odum, National Marketing Manager, Takeuchi-US
stephen.odum@takeuchi-us.com
Phone: 678-873-3070