Happy deal

Midwest Aerials & Equipment supplied a Genie S-40 boom free of charge to the Ronald McDonald house in October for some repair work in St. Louis, just minutes from the rental yard's downtown location. The equipment was used so repairs could be made to the lamina which was loose and needed an additional brown coat and acrylic finish of EIFS, a synthetic stucco.

But given past hardships with the company, does Midwest at any point consider maybe it's time to pack it all in and sell off? Midwest says no, it's too much fun. Alonzo admits that during the peak season, when the company's utilization is very high and staff is working intensely, the business can get “overbearing emotionally, physically and mentally,” but says that's part of the deal.

“The first five years people thought we weren't going to make this and the last five years people have said we're just doing this to sell it. So, that's the rumor on the street. None of that's been true in either case,” says Tumminello. “We just keep moving on and worry about what our company is doing and what we need to be doing, not worrying about what everyone else is doing. We're enjoying ourselves too much.”