Pacific American Commercial Co.

Specialty: Construction equipment sales, rental and service
Principals: Anne DeBruyn, CEO; Ted Obermeit, president
Year founded: 1955
Local office: Seattle

This hasn’t been the best of times for the heavy equipment industry, said Ted Obermeit, president of Pacific American Commercial Co. (PACO).

To sum it up in a word, Obermeit said the market has been “lousy.”

“(Last year) was a less-than-average year. This year has started out even worse,” he said.

PACO specializes in heavy construction equipment, especially those used in pile driving. Regulations on when construction can take place in rivers and streams to avoid harming salmon make this a slow time of year. “The fish windows are getting longer all the time,” Obermeit said. “It cuts into our business more and more.”

But the biggest factor, he said, is “just plain the economy and the lack of funds to do road work and bridges around here.”

Obermeit said he doesn’t see any improvement in the near future, unless more federal funds are appropriated for road work.

PACO both sells and rents equipment, and right now most of its business has been in rentals. “People aren’t purchasing anything to speak of. Most everything is rental,” Obermeit said.