On January 31, the MacAllister family, sole owners of Indiana Caterpillar dealer MacAllister Machinery Co. Inc., acquired Michigan Tractor and Machinery. MacAllister Machinery was established in 1945 and is headquartered in Indianapolis with 16 locations throughout Indiana employing 750 and serving customers in the heavy construction, coal, quarry/aggregate, scrap/waste, commercial/residential construction, agriculture and power systems industries.
Chris MacAllister, now president of both firms sees great potential for synergy between the sister companies. "Michigan Cat has a strong reputation for excellent customer service, a very good organization and a market twice the size of MacAllister," he said. "There are significant opportunities to grow and improve each company by sharing information, best practices, resources and common functions."
Michigan Tractor, more commonly known as Michigan CAT was founded in 1944 by Jerrold A. Frost Sr. who served as chief executive officer until 1971 when his son-in-law, Mark Jung, was elected president. His son, Jerrold M. Jung, was elected dealer principal in 1988. The sale of Michigan CAT culminates three generations of ownership by the Frost and Jung families. Jerry Jung has served as dealer principal and chief operating officer of Michigan CAT for almost three decades. Michigan CAT serves industries similar to MacAllister and covers the lower peninsula of the state from eight locations. In addition to continuing agreements with Caterpillar Inc. and allied manufacturers, Michigan CAT will remain a partner with the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 324, a relationship that began in 1971.
Jerry Jung elected to sell Michigan CAT when subsequent generations expressed their desire to explore other ventures outside of the equipment industry.
"Words cannot express how proud I am of the people at Michigan CAT. It is comforting to me to hand the reigns to such a wonderful organization at MacAllister Machinery. I extend the most heartfelt thanks to our customers, employees and retirees who have made Michigan CAT so special for the last 67 years and I retain the highest hopes and best wishes for both Michigan CAT and MacAllister for many more years to come," Jung said.
MacAllister Machinery Co., Inc. is a Caterpillar dealer for Indiana. Established in 1945, privately owned by President Chris MacAllister, third generation of dealer principals. MacAllister sells Caterpillar equipment as well as many other top 50 leading manufacturer brands including; AgChem, Lexion, Broderson, Kubota, JLG, Miller, Honda, Allmand, Stihl, Pro-Tec and many more. MacAllister has six full service locations in: Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Lafayette, Terre Haute, South Bend, and Washington and accompanying MacAllister Rentals locations in Indianapolis, Bicknell, Bloomington, Columbus, Fishers, Fort Wayne, Greensburg, Lafayette, Muncie, Richmond, Terre Haute.
