Service, Selection, and More

Empire Crane Company
Written by Robert Hoshowsky

Empire Crane Co., LLC was founded by brothers Paul & Luke Lonergan in January of 2002. Today, the company offers sales, parts, service, and rentals from its three locations in Syracuse, New York, Boston, Massachusetts, and Bridgewater, New Jersey.

“We are definitely a specialty operation,” says Paul J. Lonergan, President of Empire Crane. His brother, Luke, serves as Vice President and co-owner. “We do cranes and cranes only.”

Empire Crane represents many of the finest crane manufacturers in the business, and is the only authorized dealer in New England for Tadano Mantis, a company known for designing and manufacturing world-class hydraulic telescopic boom crawler cranes. Empire Crane is also a certified dealer of Demag Tadano Group, Manitex Boom Trucks, Magni Telehandlers, Kobelco, Broderson, Wolffkran Tower Cranes and Terex RTS.

Empire Crane is resilient, flexible, and keeps working toward the future. The company offers new and used crane sales, parts, service and rentals.

In addition to selling cranes, Empire carries hundreds of new and used parts and attachments. Interested buyers can use convenient online search functions to view hook blocks, overhaul balls, jibs, outrigger pads, alturnamats, seal kits, spare parts, boom grease, and more. “After-sale support for parts and service is a big part of our business,” says Lonergan. “We also have cranes available for bare rentals.”

Crane service technicians serve customers in the company’s shops or will travel to perform field service whenever needed. “Our techs attend service schools hosted by our manufacturers so Empire always has the most up-to-date knowledge and can fix any problems our customers may encounter.”

The company considers itself “not too big and not too small.” Its three locations include its home base in North Syracuse, New York and full-service satellites in Boston, Massachusetts and Bridgewater, New Jersey. As its main facility has 18,000 square feet on eight acres of land, room for inventory and storing large items is never an issue. The three locations allow Empire to service the greater northeast from Buffalo to Boston and Maine to New Jersey.

Twenty-six full-time staff members include a marketing director, service manager, and inside sales manager so customers never have issues getting speedy responses from the family-oriented business. “We are in our mid-fifties, and we come to work every day,” says Lonergan. “We’re actively involved on a day-to-day basis, not only dealing with our own staff and manufacturers, but end-users and lenders.” This involvement bodes well for the company’s customers as well as its dedicated employees.

“We’ve got a lot of longevity with our people,” says Paul proudly. One senior crane technician has forty years of service experience, and many others have faithfully served for fifteen years or more. “People who come to us tend to stick with us.”

The two brothers were born and raised in Syracuse. In the late 1980s, long before founding the business, Paul J. Lonergan gained experience in the industry when he started with a crane distributorship as a branch manager. He later became a sales manager and was joined by Luke.

Empire actively promotes the business through its website at www.EmpireCrane.com and on social media sites LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. It is also a member of affiliated organizations like the Associated General Contractors of New York State (AGC-NYS) and the Specialized Carriers and Rigging Association (SC&RA), which describes itself as “an international trade association of more than 1,400 members from 46 nations.” Both brothers regularly attend the annual SC&RA spring meeting, and Paul goes to the fall workshop. The company also brings salespeople to the association’s national meetings.

Participating in local and national trade shows to get the word out about the company, products, and services is essential. These shows include the world-famous International Construction & Utility Equipment Exposition (ICUEE) taking place this September 28-30 in Louisville, Kentucky, the New York State Woodsmen’s Field Days, held from August 21-23 in the Adirondacks, and the massive CONEXPO-CON/AGG construction trade show, held in March of 2020.

CONEXPO-CON/AGG provides the business with valuable industry exposure and a chance to see the competition in the flesh. “It also allows us to network with manufacturers’ representatives and it gives us a chance to put a face to a name at the trade show.”

Best of all, Empire Crane had three pieces of machinery on display at the show, complete with logos and decals. These includes a Broderson IC-20 industrial crane, which sold to Scott-Macon Equipment, a 45-ton Manitex 45127 with a 127-foot boom, which sold to Ivan’s Crane, and a 250-ton all-terrain Tadano AC 300-6 crane – the showcase of the Tadano Demag booth at CONEXPO.

Empire Crane keeps getting repeat business from long-term customers and new business from customers who are drawn in by quality crane brands, selection, parts, and service. Company President Paul J. Lonergan is not surprised. “It might be the price and the availability that got us the sale on the first unit, but it’s the after-sale support and treatment that they receive that earns a customer.”

AUTHOR

CURRENT EDITION

Hands-On Learning for Future Success

Read Our Current Issue

PAST EDITIONS

Cladding and Exteriors

February 2024

A Concrete Foundation

December 2023

Elegant and Eco-Friendly

November 2023

From Beautiful Bridges to Breathtaking Buildings

October 2023

More Past Editions

Featured Articles