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Kramer has sights set on Battleford expansion

The folks at Kramer Caterpillar couldn't be more enthused about the prospects for their new sales and service facility to be built in Battleford. President and CEO Tim Kramer of Kramer Ltd.
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Tim Kramer, president of Kramer Ltd., stands at site of the a Kramer Caterpillar sales and service facility in Battleford. It is part of the major development happening in the town of Battleford in the coming couple of years, which will see the building of a service road through the area.

The folks at Kramer Caterpillar couldn't be more enthused about the prospects for their new sales and service facility to be built in Battleford.

President and CEO Tim Kramer of Kramer Ltd. was at the site for the new dealership in Battleford Wednesday morning, Feb. 8. He told the News-Optimist the company is expanding in the Battlefords in response to the growing needs of the oil and gas sector in the area.

"The facility we are currently in is over-utilized and we're running out of space, so we've elected to put up a brand-new facility," Kramer said.

Kramer was at the site along with their asset manager Ken Rittinger to determine where the new facility would go and figure out what would work best for their customers.

They had two prospective sites picked on the land for a building, and intended to narrow it down to a final selection.

"It'll be full parts and service," said Kramer of the new facility, which will be about 40,000 square feet.

Kramer Ltd. has seven locations in Saskatchewan, including one on Highway 4 in North Battleford's north end. That facility was initially built for agriculture but after it was purchased by Kramer it ended up filled with yellow equipment with the Caterpillar name on it.

The ultimate result was the need for a new home, with Kramer Ltd. working on a move for the past couple of years.

The new Kramer Caterpillar site is currently an empty field west of Battleford next to Highway 16, just north of the Battleford West subdivision. A Kramer sign on the side of the highway is the only indication that the property is about to be transformed.

Once the new Kramer Caterpillar operation is completed, Kramer expects it will be a major attraction for customers to Battleford.

"You can expect to see a pretty substantial facility," said Kramer.

"Large, very substantial units," is how Kramer describes the equipment his company provides. The plan is to service everything from oil field equipment to the agricultural side, from small skid-steers and large trucks to combines.

It is not just a building that will be going up. A major development will be construction of a service road alongside Highway 16. The service road would turn in from the highway, run east from the Kramer Caterpillar property and all the way to Battleford where it would connect with Highway 4.

Another large turning exit will need to be built just off Highway 16 on the northwest corner of the property, to accommodate the large vehicles expected to come into the area.

Kramer says the negotiations are ongoing to work out the contract for that service road.

The building itself is likely to be set back about 150 metres from the highway and will not look much different from the other facilities the company has around the province.

The land itself was purchased last year and the company had been hoping to get the construction moving earlier, but "it ain't as easy as it looks," said Kramer. He says it's his experience that these sorts of projects happen over a longer time frame.

The plan is to start construction this spring and while the hope is to get it done by the fall, 2013 might be a more realistic end date. Kramer anticipates it will probably take a year and a half to complete.

The facility is just one of many changes coming as part of the development of the entire Battleford West/gasoline alley area.

Construction has already taken place through 2011 of the twinning of Highway 4 through Battleford, with $6 million in funding coming from the province for that road construction after the town signed onto the Highway Connectors Program.

Coming in 2012 will be traffic lights for the intersections at 22nd and 29th Street. Meanwhile, construction goes on in Battleford West residential subdivision and plans continue for a Towne Square business development in that area. That will have the potential to bring more businesses and franchises to the community.

With the new Kramer Caterpillar location comes the promise of more jobs. Kramer believes there is likely to be more immigration as a result of the jobs created.

He anticipates a doubling in size of employees from the current facility in North Battleford.

Kramer could not be happier with the co-operation he received from town hall in Battleford for the project.

He called Mayor Chris Odishaw "quite a promoter" and described the mayor's enthusiasm and can do attitude as "quite infectious."

He said the town has been especially co-operative, and has been helpful in acting as a go-between with the provincial highways department.

"Council has been terrific," Kramer said, noting their entrepreneurial attitude "is quite enlightening. We don't get this everyplace we go."

Kramer said the new development bodes well for the town of Battleford and called it a great boon for the economy.

"That's what's driving the province today," he said.