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CEO TESTIMONIALS BRAHLER'S TRUCKERS SUPPLY, INC.
Family owned Brahler's Truckers Supply recently celebrated its 30th anniversary of manufacturing and selling high quality retreads for truck tires and industrial equipment. Two years ago, the business embarked on a $2.5 million plant expansion to become the Michelin franchise for Central Illinois and Missouri, employing Michelin's newest tire retreading technology. Over 500 tires move through the location each day. Company President Richard Brahler also operates three other companies from the Jacksonville corporate office: Industrial Tire Recycling, Inc., recently located in Jacksonville's Eastgate Industrial Park and is one of the nation's largest industrial tire retreaders; Gaither Tool Company, which manufactures a tool system for mounting and dismounting truck tires and has customers in over 100 countries; and Gaither Europe BV, a wholly owned subsidiary in Holland. Brahler's Truckers Supply was honored in 2000 as "Industry of the Year" by the Jacksonville Regional Economic Development Corporation. "We run four businesses from our corporate offices - all pertaining to tires, wheels and their maintenance - the largest being Brahler's Truckers Supply. At Brahler's, we take old tires, retread them and make them run like new again at half the cost of new tires. Two years ago, Brahler's became the Michelin franchise for retreading tires in Central Illinois and Missouri. Michelin wanted us to move to a major city - St. Louis. I fought them, because of the community we have here in the Jacksonville region, the great work force, and the support we receive from local government, the Economic Development Corporation and the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce. Michelin sees the quality of the tires we're producing and they're convinced...we made the right choice to stay here in Jacksonville." "Our central location also allows us to easily get to the Springfield, Peoria and St. Louis markets." "Our plant employees here at Brahler's are a tight bunch. They take great pride in their families and in their work, which is typical of this community. They are hard working, dedicated employees. That feeling transcends outside the plant to our other employees who work in service and sales." "We have a very low turnover rate for our Industry. Our average length of service is ten years; the industry standard is two years. We're very proud of that statistic." "When we changed our franchise and undertook the expansion, it was a major upheaval. In two weeks, we replaced all of our equipment and made major changes to our building. We made a lot of requests to local officials, and they came through for us. We've also had great support from local banks and the entire community." "I travel extensively throughout the world with my businesses. When you travel, you find out quickly that our quality of life in the Midwest, particularly in the Jacksonville area, just can't be beat. We have a wonderful community with good schools." "I feel lucky to be able to have my businesses based here and not have to deal with the headaches of a major city." We lived in Tokyo, Japan for seven years and I certainly don't miss the big city congestion! It's wonderful to jump in the car and be at work in five minutes. That's a huge luxury. We've made the transition from big city life; we've made Jacksonville our home and we love it here. Moving here was a breath of fresh air." "The presence of Illinois College and MacMurray College really adds so much to the area. There's vibrancy each year with a new influx of students who enjoy the colleges' many cultural activities. The colleges also provide us with valuable interns." "Our customers? Brahler's Truckers Supply customers are in Illinois, Missouri and Iowa; ITR has customers in a 10 state area; and Gaither Tool has customers worldwide: 105 countries at last count and soon expanding into South America. All of that business comes through this office in Jacksonville, Illinois." "Jacksonville provides a perfect central location for our businesses, as well as a great community for my family, support I can count on from local government, business organizations and financial institutions, and an outstanding workforce. We've enjoyed double digit growth in the past two years and continue to grow. We're here to stay." Back to top. |
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QUALITY OF LIFE LINKS BOUND TO STAY BOUND BOOKS BRAHLER'S TRUCKER SUPPLY LANDES TRUCKING BACK TO CEO TESTIMONIAL PAGE |
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