Nationwide Equipment Company

Nationwide Equipment Company (Nationwide) specializes in the sale of high-quality heavy equipment for the mining, construction and marine sectors. The company’s 30 employees offer domestic sales and the exporting of equipment to over 70 countries.

Founded in 1983, Nationwide now coordinates its efforts from headquarters in Jacksonville, Fla., with six overseas branches (operating under the dba Nationwide Group International) in Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, South Africa, Kenya and Senegal, to which the company distributes its American goods.

Operating from its new headquarters overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, Nationwide also has a 24-acre stockyard and service facilities situated conveniently close to Jacksonville International Airport and Jacksonville Port, from which the company ships most of its equipment. In addition to its sales and corporate support offices, Nationwide’s Florida facility offers equipment service, rebuilding and storage facilities, plus a test site where clients can try equipment prior to making purchases.

Among the superior-quality, competitively priced equipment that Nationwide sells are new and used cranes, loaders, excavators, dredgers, dozers, concrete equipment, crushing and screening equipment, farming and agricultural equipment, marine vessels and port equipment, mineral exploration equipment, oil and gas exploration equipment and road-building equipment. The varieties of equipment numbers well over a hundred types. To illustrate the scale of Nationwide’s capabilities, at one point in 2012 the company sold, shipped and financed a $50 million offshore oil drilling floating platform for Axxis Petro Consultants of Nigeria. Nationwide is truly a one-stop provider.

A Strong Foundation and Prestigious Recognition

Ed Kostenski, president and CEO of Nationwide, as well as the founder of the company, remembers the humble beginnings of his firm and how it has grown into an increasingly larger exporter of equipment for 30 years. He recalls, “I worked for someone in 1982 and, following the bad recession, they went out of business. Finding myself unemployed with only one year of experience, I decided to start the company from my kitchen table, with no credit and no employees, and built it up to one of the most recognized global exporters in North America of heavy equipment and supplies. Now, with sales exceeding $85 million in 2012, I’m still the same owner, and it’s still the same family company, but much more diverse and experienced – that is priceless.”

In the years since its inception, Nationwide has carved a niche for itself as a company that finances what it sells. As an international financier and fund provider, the company specializes in structured finance and works with clients to tailor plans based on their needs and ability to service their debts. According to Kostenski, Nationwide has set itself apart from other, similarly situated businesses because of its “creative thinking and willingness to act and take limited and calculated risks. We act very fast on the ideas that our staff puts together in our strategic-planning sessions. This is the company’s strength, which has carried our continued success.”

Kostenski’s fast-acting, creative-thinking homegrown organization has gathered quite a bit of recognition and prestigious accolades along the way. President George W. Bush awarded Nationwide the President’s “E” Award, an honor that bestows recognition on individuals and companies that have contributed significantly to increasing United States exports. In 2010 Nationwide was the recipient of the President’s “E Star” Award, given by the United States secretary of commerce to a select few companies that were previous recipients of the “E” Award and that have demonstrated continued and noteworthy export expansion.

The White House invited Kostenski to attend the opening ceremony for the July 2010 Presidents Economic Council, known as PEC. Kostenski personally met with both former President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama in the East Room of the White House to discuss economic issues. During Kostenski’s one-hour meeting with President Obama in late 2012, Kostenski shared his views regarding restoration of credit markets, resulting in an assurance from the President that a task force would be assigned to address the issues related to getting federally regulated lending institutions to lend again so American businesses can experience the success they once enjoyed before the global financial crisis of 2008.

Among Nationwide’s additional awards are the Florida Governor’s Export Excellence Award (two-time winner), the International Trader of the Year Award presented by the Chamber of Commerce, and the ThinkGlobal/Commercial News Exporter of the Year Award and the Export Achievement Award presented by Congressman Cliff Stearns.

Forging International Relationships

Despite the recent economic downturn, Nationwide is experiencing very high annual revenues as it celebrates its 30-year anniversary. Kostenski notes, “We’ve had record high sales for our 30-year existence in 2012, with a higher forecast for 2013, so we’re quite happy about that. Our sales have already exceeded our expectations with a future that has promised more as our world population expands”

Nationwide already services the construction, road building, oil and gas, gold mining, power plant and diamond mining sectors, and Kostenski would like to continue to expand the company. He explains, “We will probably build more overseas branches to distribute our products into new emerging markets that need what we have, and we will continue to offer financing for what we sell. That’s almost a must for a dealer to be successful as we have been. If you don’t have some kind of financing program so that you can get construction companies into equipment, it makes things much more difficult. And I speak with the wisdom of 30 years of selling equipment in over 70 countries and providing real solutions for our clients.”

The team at Nationwide takes real pride in its global affiliations and the capabilities of a multicultural, international staff. Kostenski credits his firm’s continuing success in part to the world-class support of his staff, some of whom have been with the company for 20 years. This has resulted in loyal relationships that have allowed Nationwide to become a true industry leader worldwide. The company understands cultural differences in the way that business is conducted in various nations, and that understanding has been a major asset. Members of the Nationwide team are multilingual, sensitive to international needs and differences and knowledgeable about the equipment that the company sells. All of this allows the staff to customize an optimized approach for each project and help the client overcome the challenges they may face.

Given Nationwide’s extraordinary awards, its increasing sales and its positive strategic partnerships around the globe, the company truly finds itself in a special position to continue to capitalize on the international demand for mining, construction and marine equipment. The continued success and expansion of Nationwide Equipment in the years to come is virtually guaranteed.