(L-R) Scott Swakow and Loren Swakow at ProMat 2007.

By Roger Renstrom
Industry leader Loren G Swakow succeeded his older brother, Paul, as president of Scott Lift Truck Corp, a Komatsu Ltd distributor, on January 1.

Jeff Powell, vice president of product support with Komatsu Forklift USA Inc, in Covington, Georgia, said: "We are pleased to see Loren expand his role within the organisation and are confident Loren's years of experience will prove valuable and enable Scott Lift Truck to continue to expand and grow in the Chicago market."

Loren Swakow was the 2004 president of the Material Handling Equipment Distributors' Association (MHEDA) and the 1995 president of the then-active Chicago Industrial Truck Dealers' Association.
He said the factory-direct trend and dealer profitability were among issues facing independent US forklift distributors.

"Dealers have to prove their value to end users through non-truck items," he said. "A lot of end users want to cut out the middleman. I don't think a factory can operate without dealerships."

For Scott Lift Truck, the profitability issue relates to forklift "supply and demand as manufacturing moves out" of its primary northeastern Illinois market, Swakow said. "There are [fewer] consumers and users of our services, but the providers are still there."

Company size is another issue. "We are more of a niche guy," he said. "We do a great job in servicing, but our contracted territory limits us and our growth potential."

As MHEDA president, Swakow tried to be a champion for smaller dealers.

He pushed to capture group buying power for the benefit of all members; major freight carrier Yellow Transportation Inc was among the early participants. He saw value in the credit card affinity program, which can reduce fees paid for processing charges. "Those two programs alone more than cover the cost of dues," he said.

Applying business principles to the forklift business
Swakow, 55, a lifelong resident of Des Plaines, Illinois, received a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration from Carthage College in 1974 and went to work for a printing company.

Scott Lift Truck had been formed by the founding partners of Lift Parts Manufacturing Co (LPM), a parts distributor, as a wholesale outlet for forklift parts. Paul Swakow joined Scott when it was in its infancy.
Paul and a partner soon became the new organisation's leaders, focusing on the retail side of the business. He bought out the partner in 1977.

Paul then recruited Loren as a minority owner with broad administrative responsibilities. Their younger brother, Scott, joined the business in 1980 and is now vice president of sales and marketing. Scott Lift Truck is still an LPM dealer.

Loren Swakow showed creativity in forming SLP Financial Inc in 1982 to facilitate long-term rentals for Scott Lift Truck customers. The name represents the three brothers' first initials.

Customers sign long-term contracts, including maintenance, with SLP Financial, which then handles bank financing. SLP Financial has annual revenues of about USD1 million and is among Scott Lift's biggest customers.

Swakow formed SLP Realty Co in 1984 for Scott Lift Truck's real estate transactions. It expanded to residential transactions in 1989. SLP Realty now owns real estate worth more than USD4 million and leases the properties to tenants.

Onward to Komatsu
Scott Lift Truck linked with Komatsu in 1985 and began selling Komatsu forklifts in classes 1, 4 and 5. Scott Lift Truck now occupies 35,000 square feet (3,200 square metres) of premises at Elk Grove Village, Illinois, and SLP Realty leases the remaining space to tenants.

The company employs 33 staff and, for the fiscal year ended October 31, had sales of USD8.2 million, up from the previous year's USD7.1 million. Sales of new and used forklifts account for 47 per cent, parts 17 per cent, labour and services 16 per cent and equipment rental 13 per cent.

Mostly through electronic transactions, Scott Lift Truck sells high volumes of LPM aftermarket parts at discounted prices over the counter or on overnight delivery from the nearest warehouse to dealers for resale. Systems Material Handling Co's (SMH) acquisition of LPM slightly modified Scott Lift Truck's approach.

Parts customers include the Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola bottling organisations and Reinhart FoodService LLC. Scott Lift Truck administers the transactions.

Swakow and his wife, Vanessa, have three children, Jim, a University of Minnesota senior, Lissa, a DePaul University freshman, and Ben, a Maine West High School senior.

The three Swakow brothers jointly own a lakeshore vacation cottage near Wild Rose, Wisconsin. Their father, Arthur, purchased the property in 1958 and, without electricity, handled construction.

Loren Swakow plays golf regularly in Illinois and Wisconsin and annually with a group of 24 men at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. "I am a 16 or 17-handicap player," he said.

He and five others play poker weekly, and he has participated in SMH's Texas hold 'em tournament. His secret: "I split winnings with my wife."