THE INTERVIEW CraneTech CEO Eric Factor.
The next layer is people – hiring the best people in the industry in putting them in the right seats. Third is operational excellence – using systems and processes to provide the most effective and efficient customer service in the industry. Finally, the top of the pyramid is that, when we do all of these things right, then we will all make money. And when we make money, we reinvest back into the bottom of the pyramid. We have a no-dividends policy at CraneTech. Everything we make gets reinvested back into our team, and into further growth.
Why and how did you enter this business? Austin and I had worked together right out of college. I had become familiar with the crane industry and thought it was fascinating. We like the trades – blue-collar businesses with highly skilled workers. I was working for a tech company in Boston and when Covid hit, and we were looking for new opportunities, we saw that the crane industry has some great regulatory tailwinds, and the experience Austin had gained in HVAC and plumbing meant he could appreciate the opportunity to focus on technicians. We identified the industry as one that is resilient
through economic cycles and ripe for disruption. We believe many companies in our space have forgotten what got it here – and that is people, especially technical people. We started by cold calling business owners
What is your biggest business inspiration? Our biggest inspiration comes from the P&H of the old days. Where people came first and teamwork drove success. What I hear from my employees and in conversations with technicians is that the old P&H was a business where technicians were treated well and highly compensated. It was the kind of place where people wanted to work. We put the best people on the same team and we support them. We are always working to
Five tips for success
1. Listen to your people and trust them. 2. Be persistent. 3. Put the team and organisation before yourself. Operate with humility.
4. Never be outworked. 5. Remain curious. One of the wonderful things about this industry is you can always learn something new. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
36 Summer 2025 |
ochmagazine.com
innovate and improve efficiency, but that is not our priority. The people side of the business is our priority, and we are laser-focused on technical talent, in which we believe we can corner the market. We want to be the place where the best of the best want to work. That is my inspiration, along with Austin, my best friend first and business partner second. It’s pretty cool to be able to work with your best friend every day, and I think that permeates through our entire company culture.
What is your business philosophy? Despite our exponential growth, our goal is not to become the biggest crane company. Our goal is to be the best crane company – defined by employee and customer satisfaction. At CraneTech, we have what we call our pyramid for long term reinvestment. The pyramid has four layers, and at its foundation is safety. Safety is the core of everything that we do.
from the internet. We were lucky that a gentleman named Jim Stewart, the original founder of CraneTech, took our call. We were 26 years old at the time, and he gave us a chance. His belief in us is really what gave us the opportunity. Then we found some amazing investors – all families and individuals – who were crazy enough to help fund our vision. There is massive domestic investment in US manufacturing, which began even before Trump took office and is accelerating now, and safety regulations are evolving. In the US, you have specifical inspection standards from OSHA, and some states have their own regulations. For instance, California now requires quarterly inspections. So that is providing the positive tailwinds in the industry. Also, the private equity investment in the industry is unlocking talent that might once have been super-loyal. This freeing up of talent is what gives us the opportunity for growth. Although we have made a lot of acquisitions, the majority of growth is organic, and we have directly hired over 80% of our employees.
Can you tell us about your success stories? Our biggest success has been in recruiting. The team we've built is unlike any I've ever seen. It is not just our prevalence of strong industry talent, but the density of such talent. From technicians to managers to leadership, sales and support teams, I would put our team up against any team in any industry.
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