During February 2024, CJD Equipment, a proud WA privately owned organisation, celebrated its 50th year in operation. Quarry chronicles the journey of the Australian company.
From humble beginnings at the Guildford location, with 28 willing staff on board who shared the vision of founders Ron Rafferty and Rob Jowett, CJD Equipment’s legacy began. Five decades later, with nearly 600 dedicated staff members across 23 national locations, the legacy of the CJD Equipment continues.
Rafferty and Jowett first met as part of the sales team of Chamberlain Industries, a Welshpool-based organisation specialising in tractors and farm equipment. In 1974, a wonderful yet daunting opportunity arose to become the West Australian dealer for the Chamberlain John Deere construction equipment product. The pair were off and running; armed with a desire to succeed, a mantra that “we will make it happen,” and always to be customer-centric and invest in staff to be the best they could be.
Today, business revolves around people and products. That is why CJD Equipment believes it is important to have not only the best people but also to represent quality, world-class products. The company operates on the national stage and represents brands in both the construction equipment and the transport industries.
CJD Equipment is the national dealer for both Volvo Construction Equipment and SDLG Construction Equipment. In the trucking space, CJD is the West Australian, Northern Territory and Tasmanian dealers for both Kenworth and DAF trucks and the Isuzu dealer for the Northern Territory.
Rafferty has always said, “relationships are the backbone of any business”, and this mantra proves true for CJD Equipment. Relationships with customers are pivotal, and that is why CJD Equipment has always had a “can do” attitude when it comes to servicing its customers.
The same is true when it comes to suppliers.
The entire CJD Equipment team has pride in the duration of partnerships with its supplier base, with a 40-year partnership with Paccar and over a 32-year relationship with the Volvo Construction Equipment product. The length of these relationships means the company can talk the talk and walk the walk when it comes to sales, service and support of the products it represents.
CJD Equipment started in Western Australia in 1974. Image: CJD Equipment
Jowett said that CJD Equipment is only as good as the sum of its people.
“It is the people involved in the business, their passion, enthusiasm, and commitment that has led to CJD Equipment’s long-term success,” he said.
Jowett said he took pride in the fact that CJD Equipment has second and third-generation families employed at the company.
Alan Barnett joined the CJD family in a commercial and marketing role in 2001. It was only a short period of time until Barnett progressed his way to becoming CJD Equipment’s managing director as well as part of the business ownership structure. Barnett shared all of the values that CJD embodied and, along with Rafferty and Jowett, steered the business through a huge growth phase of the company. This included spearheading a rapid national expansion program following the appointment of the business as the national distributor for Volvo Construction Equipment.
“We are a growing business, we will always want to be a growing business and at our core we are a sales business,” Barnett said.
“In order to keep growing, we must keep selling and for this to happen we must deliver the best products, the best customer experiences and the best quality back up and support possible to each and every one of our customers, all of the time.”
CJD Equipment has always identified the saying “big enough to trust, small enough to care” as key to its success. This small statement has been at the heart of the business and has contributed in no small part to CJD Equipment’s ability to grow into a strong national business over a long period of time while maintaining its founder’s mentality and family values.
“I’m incredibly proud of the 50-year milestone that we will be celebrating, and I look forward to watching the business continue to go from strength to strength in the many years to come,” Barnett said.•
For more information, visit cjd.com.au
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