Located at 1690 E Hwy 121 between Lewisville and The Colony, the South Star staff was joined by JCB North America management and Bamford family members for the July 12 festivity.
“We’re very excited to be in this gorgeous, amazing new facility and be a partner with JCB,” said Chris Meinecke, President and CEO of South Star JCB. “Once you get JCB in your system, it’s hard to get it out.”
When Meinecke, a native Texan whose background is in the construction equipment industry, learned that JCB had an opportunity for a dealership in Texas, he was immediately interested and saw it as a perfect fit.
“I was intrigued by the story of JCB and its being the largest privately held construction equipment manufacturer in the world,” he said. “They have the safest side door entry skid steer in the world, the fastest farm tractor, the fastest diesel engine, and many three-in-one machines. It was all about innovation and thinking outside the box.”
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Demonstrating that JCB is a family business to its core, Alice Bamford – daughter of JCB Chairman Lord Bamford and granddaughter of company founder Joseph Cyril Bamford, known as Mr. JCB – traveled to north Texas to participate in the ceremony. “We are a close-knit family. Everyone who works for us is an extension of our family. Texas is growing so much,” said Bamford. “The proximity of this location is great.”
Texas House District 65 Representative Kronda Thimesch, who owns a landscaping business in Lewisville said, “Texas is where everybody is moving to. We cannot get things built fast enough, so we’re really excited to have JCB to partner with us, especially those of us in the construction industry.”
Christian Baillie, Vice President of Sales for JCB North America, said, “There are a lot of really exciting things going on in North America right now, and this is one of the milestones.” Baillie complimented the South Star staff and Meinecke’s leadership as having “the key ingredients of vision and work ethic.”
According to Bamford, JCB’s new generation is just as inventive as her grandfather, who devised the backhoe. Their latest endeavor is a hydrogen combustion engine for use in the high power demands of construction industry equipment. Their newly developed technology, debuted at CONEXPO earlier this year, is less complicated than hydrogen fuel-cell technology and emits zero CO2 at point of use.
“JCB is taking a smart approach to electrification, hydrogen, and fossil fuel options to meet all customer needs now and in the future,” Meinecke added. “JCB Chairman Lord Bamford has been aggressive with hydrogen for large machines and electric batteries for smaller where appropriate. I am excited to see the future of JCB.”
South Star JCB also serves the greater Fort Worth area from their facility at 4851 Blue Mound Road. “I couldn’t be prouder of the employees and their accomplishments,” said Meinecke. “The business doubled each year for the last four years which is 100 percent because of the employees commitment to the customer and overall vision of South Star and JCB.”
