Construction on Vermeer Midwest expansion to start later this year
A rendering of the expanded Vermeer Midwest building coming to Collinsville. (Courtesy of Vermeer Midwest)
By DEVESE “DEE” URSERY
dursery@timestribunenews.com
Vermeer Midwest, a recognized merchandiser of heavy industrial and agricultural equipment will be breaking ground on a new facility in Collinsville later this year.
Vermeer Midwest opened its current location on March 1 of this year. The new building will accommodate more storage space, training areas and service bays. The new facility will be located at 916 Fournie Lane in Collinsville, blocks away from the current building space located at 929 McDonough Lake Road.
Construction on the new building will be completed by Korte & Luitjohan Contractors Inc., and is slated to start within six months, according to Chad Soelen, general manager of sales and service for Vermeer Midwest. Doors are tentatively scheduled to open around August 2025. The facility will be constructed to allow for more space to better serve their customers in Southern Illinois.
“We want to be able to provide better service, closer service and be able to take better care of them, to keep their machines productive and profitable and up and running at all times,” Soelen said.
Soelen said the company outgrew the current space that they are using, which led to plans for the expansion and construction of the new building. Vermeer’s new facility will measure out at 15,000 square feet, which will allow the company to provide better service.
“We will have full capability with a showroom, parts stocking,” Soelen said. “We’ll have a full-service shop, a six-bay service area with cranes. We’ll also have a cold service facility there to store more parts, as well as yard space to store new equipment. We’ll also have a training room so we can host training events for our customers, as well, so that they are properly trained on all the equipment that we service and sell.”
Soelen said Collinsville is prime real estate for their expansion because it is centered with access to multiple interstate highways, which makes it easier for them to service multiple areas in Southern Illinois.
Vermeer Midwest got started in 1971, in Eureka, Ill., by husband-and-wife duo Junior and Beverly Kool, according to Soelen. They quickly became known for their personal approach to customer service and their interest in seeing their customers succeed.
Kool started with one store, and he built the business up where they currently have 11 locations throughout the Midwest covering the states of Michigan, Indiana, a third of Kentucky, all of Illinois and half of Missouri.
As a larger, multi-state operation, Vermeer Midwest brings additional value to its customers. All ten branches are linked together, creating a regional network of parts, equipment and technical service know-how. With a fleet of over 30 mobile service vehicles, Vermeer gives customers quick access to experienced technicians, parts and on-site troubleshooting.
At Vermeer Midwest they believe that customer service is not just what they do, but is who they are as a company, according to their website. Their culture allows them to do whatever it takes to maximize the customer’s productivity and profit.
“We are here to provide for our customers’ needs, take care of them and our biggest goal is to keep their machines up and running and keep them productive and profitable,” Soelen said.
Devese “Dee” Ursery is part of the editorial team at the Troy Times-Tribune, a Better Newspapers Inc. publication, where this story first appeared.
This story also appears in the August 2023 print edition of the Illinois Business Journal.
