Ditch Witch Under New Ownership

The Ditch Witch organization announced that the assets of the Ditch Witch of Tennessee dealership have been purchased by RJV Equipment, LLC under the ownership of Ray Romano.

Ditch Witch of Tennessee covers middle and eastern Tennessee, as well as several counties in southwest Virginia. There are two dealership locations (La Vergne and Louisville) that have served this region since the 1960s providing sales, service, and parts for the entire Ditch Witch product line. They also offer rental of new and used equipment. The company provides a complete range of high-quality underground construction equipment. 

Ray Romano became the Ditch Witch dealer effective Sept. 1, 2010, and will serve as owner and CEO. The new owner will be responsible for all aspects of managing and operating the company on a day-to-day basis. Romano is no stranger to the construction equipment business having 35 years of experience via Caterpillar dealers and Caterpillar Inc..

Romano attended the University of Massachusetts and Oregon State University before beginning his experience in the CAT world. He began in the parts department for Milton CAT in New Hampshire from 1975. After 15 years of sales and sales management experience with Milton CAT he took Sales, Rental and Used Equipment responsibility for HO Penn Machinery, the dealer in the southern region of his home state of New York. In 1995 when CAT was looking to establish a worldwide used equipment organization for dealers they called on Romano to start up Caterpillar Redistribution Services Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary in Nashville, Tenn. In 1999 Ray assisted the venture capital start-up of IronPlanet (online equipment auctions) before getting the call in 2000 to CEO WesTrac, the dealer in Sydney Australia. During his time in Sydney, Romano was asked to also manage the development of WesTrac China, their new territory in Beijing and northeast China. In 2008, as part of WesTrac's long-term rental strategy, Ray was asked to be interim CEO of Coates Hire, the largest rental company in Australia, which WesTrac acquired with the Carlyle Group. In March of 2010 Ray returned to the states with his wife, Joanne and Australian born son, Vincent.