Broussard-based CLM Equipment is planting its flag in the Baton Rouge market as the family-owned heavy equipment dealer celebrates 60 years in business.
The company recently purchased roughly 3 acres on Commercial Drive off Lobdell Highway in Port Allen for $850,000. Troy Daigle of JRE brokerage brokered the transaction for both parties.
The property is adjacent to fellow equipment dealer EquipmentShare.
“We’re really excited to be in the Baton Rouge area,” says Dana Reynolds, marketing director at CLM Equipment. “We opened one location a year and a half ago in St. Rose. Our next step was the Baton Rouge area because it’s so big and offers so much opportunity. This property came up. It’s a prime location. It’s great exposure.”
CLM is a full-service dealership offering sales, rentals, parts and service. The company is the exclusive Louisiana dealer for Hitachi excavators and wheel loaders, as well as Gradall and Atlas, brands that form the backbone of its business statewide.
The Port Allen site marks CLM’s fourth Louisiana location. In addition to its corporate headquarters in Broussard and its St. Rose site, it also has a location in Lake Charles. The company also operates a location in Houston.
In the short term, CLM plans to install portable office buildings on the property and begin operating a satellite location by this summer, pending site work such as fencing, utilities and driveway access.
The interim site will support equipment rentals, parts sales and field services, with additional technicians, service trucks and administrative staff expected to be hired.
CLM currently has about 70 employees and anticipates adding another 20 or so as the Baton Rouge operation ramps up.
The company eventually plans to build a roughly 5,000-square-foot permanent facility, featuring office space, a six-bay shop and a wash bay. No timeline has been set for the project, though, as it remains in the planning phase.
