Paint Valley Equipment celebrates 40 years of partnerships
Paint Valley Equipment’s leadership team continues the tradition of quality and service as it builds on the relationships that founder Levi Miller created four decades ago.
In celebrating 40 years of commitment to serving heavy machinery wholesalers nationwide, Paint Valley Equipment is excited about the future, not just because they continue to build and distribute high-quality replacement parts for heavy construction equipment, but also because they have built lasting relationships along the way.
From its humble beginning in the heart of rural Ohio when Levi Miller built a thriving company out of a dream to today, under the leadership of owner Lee Miller, who walks in his father’s footsteps, PVE remains committed to providing top-quality parts to its wholesale customers just the way Levi envisioned it 40 years ago.
In his younger years, Levi Miller loved to tinker and fix things. It seemed as though there wasn’t a machine invented Miller couldn’t fix, and even now, decades later, he continues to enjoy that passion.
After years of struggling through the demands of farming, in 1984 Miller took a chance and made an investment, and what followed was the growth of a company that has become a trusted industry player in heavy machine parts manufacturing.
“Dad wanted to find a better way of living,” Lee Miller said. “One thing Dad could do was fix anything, and he quickly discovered there were some machinery repair needs in the area.”
But could Levi Miller fill that void? To a guy who could fix anything, Miller knew the answer to that question was yes.
In spring 1984 Miller took the plunge, acquiring a $4,000 bank loan to purchase the materials to build his own track press that would remove worn pins and bushings from the track of a bulldozer or other heavy machinery and replace them with new ones.
In addition, Miller built a service shop, Paint Valley Repair, and soon became the go-to guy in the area for anyone who needed to have repair work done on any type of heavy machinery.
Miller’s work schedule grew, and he turned the press process over to his 15-year-old son Lee, who helped while continuing to do the farming chores.
“Dad had built a really promising business,” Lee Miller said. “He was fixing equipment for others. He had machines torn down for parts and was selling parts. He would buy used equipment, fix it up and resell it, and things looked good.”
During that time Levi Miller had discovered a key element that would eventually lead to the creation of PVE. Lee said his dad recognized that oftentimes parts were worn so badly they couldn’t be used, and purchasing new ones was chewing up the profit margin.
They had been working with a local machine shop and built a relationship there that became the initial step in creating PVE.
By 1997 the father and son duo were fully engulfed in manufacturing parts.
“The first parts we made were track adjusters for Case dozers,” Lee Miller said, adding they were fortunate to find PSW out of Cleveland to begin distributing their parts.
Since then Levi Miller’s tiny idea has blossomed into a company that manufactures more than 5,000 different parts and ships around the world, and if there is a part for heavy construction machinery that is big and yellow, chances are good PVE makes it.
After Lee Miller and his wife Dawn officially became partners in the company in 2000, PVE set sail to new heights. Lee Miller was traveling nationwide to purchase used equipment to refurbish. They had stopped parting out used machines because the new parts department had become a dominant factor in the company’s success.
At the time, PVE was utilizing the skills of approximately 14 area sub-shops. The daily truck run was a 15-mile radius of ordering and picking up parts from the sub-shops.
Realizing they couldn’t keep that pace up, the Millers made a major investment in 2003, building a new 42,000-square-foot facility and purchasing equipment to do everything in-house.
“Our quality control changed immediately,” Lee Miller said. “That was such a monumental step for us. We could control the workflow. We invest in people who have a deep desire to be successful, people who are creative and want to learn. We sought out high-character people who we knew we could teach and trust to continue the high quality of products we manufacture.”
The people they’ve invested in continue to carry the pillar upon which the company was built.
In 2007 PVE dedicated itself to being a dealer-only platform while still serving the local community around the area.
“We service nationwide, but we won’t forget the local people who were there for us in the beginning,” Lee Miller said.
Recently, the company’s leadership team sat down and created a core values mission statement that defined who they are and the values they want to display to those who put their trust in them to supply quality parts.
PVE marketing manager Hannah Clark described those four qualities: responsiveness, respectfulness, innovation and community focus.
Being quick to respond has become a cornerstone for the company, and through exceptional customer service, the PVE team is well-known for its willingness to immediately respond to customers’ inquiries.
“We believe that time matters to others,” Lee Miller said. “We know that somewhere there is a contractor who is down that needs to be working, and our responsiveness allows them to be successful. Serving others is the most important thing we can do, and our relationships are foundational.”
The company’s motto is “work that matters for people who care,” showcasing the importance of both the product they create and the people they serve.
In 2011 PVE branched out, taking an opportunity to purchase a struggling company in which Levi Miller saw a whole lot of potential. That company was Acu-Form, a roll forming equipment company Miller envisioned as a perfect partner to the manufacturing company that was thriving.
“We saw the possibilities,” Lee Miller said. “Some of their prior challenges came from scheduling and building processes, things in which we excel. It’s a very different client base, but it has enhanced our company and grown dramatically.”
Today, PVE is experiencing a new type of growth. Lee and Dawn Miller’s children Grant and Whitney along with their nephew Daniel Coblentz have become the third generation in the family business, and Lee said it is gratifying to see the next generation taking an interest in the company his father created 40 years ago.
The company’s commitment to its core values and its teamwork has allowed it to ship to its resellers quickly and capably.
A dealer in Texas said of PVE, “You all are some of the best people in the business. We love you all like family. You are true friends, and we thank you for our relationship.”
Those words mean more to the Millers and the entire family at PVE than they can express because everything they have built, everything they are about, is more than just the sum of its parts.