Bill Kelley Sr. and his son, Bill Kelley, show off a small rental excavator and Ditch Witch at the Tunkhannock office of Taylor Rental and Bx3 Oilfield Supply.STAFF PHOTO/PAT FARNELLI
BY PAT FARNELLI
A South Montrose rental business that rode the wave of Susquehanna County’s gas industry boom has opened a bigger business in Tunkhannock.
Taylor Rental, founded by Bill Kelley Sr., began as a problem solving business for do-it-yourselfers and contractors who needed to rent equipment rather than purchase it outright.
When the gas industry came onto the scene, the company saw a great opportunity and jumped on board, Kelley said.
“People had stopped moving up from the Poconos, buying farmettes,” he said. “Contractors weren’t so busy any more. A recession had begun, and the bluestone industry really took a hit.”
When the gas drilling began in earnest in Susquehanna and Wyoming Counties, it spared the area from the worst of the recession. “It really helped with this area’s recovery,” Kelley said.
The pipeline industry will be spending hundreds of millions of dollars in the next 15 to 25 years, creating a sustained economic boom, he said.
The company was founded on the principle of being solution seekers and customer service providers.
“The old-styled hardware stores used to have someone right there, trying to help you find what you were looking for, reaching for what they thought you might be needing,: Kelley said. “Places like Andres or Gay Murrays. We pride ourselves on being problem solvers, trying real hard to understand what you are looking for and finding the best tool to fit the job.”
For example, he told of an 80-year-old man who wanted to rent an excavator to install a cable between his home and his workshop.
The excavator would cost between $300 and $500 to do the job, and the man would have difficulty getting into the driver’s seat.
For $80, the man could rent a Ditch Witch that could do the job competently, with little damage to the yard and at considerable savings.
Kelley said that someone wanting to put in an invisible fence for the family dog could use a power edger that could cut a three inch deep hole sufficient to bury the electric line, doing the job without disturbing the lawn.
He said that the average consumer looking to purchase a piece of equipment at Home Depot or WalMart would get significantly less practical advice, from someone who had never operated the machinery, and would pay a great deal for something they would use once or twice a year.
“In Europe, people rent 65 to 70 percent of the time rather than buy,” Kelley said. “Here in the U.S., we purchase 65 to 70 percent of the time, rather than rent.”
He added, “Now, people tell me they are selling equipment they purchased and renting from my company instead. They don’t have to store or maintain it, and it is clean and ready to go.”
When the rental business first started, it was just himelf and his son Bill Kelley.
They hired a mechanic and started setting up rental tents for weddings and parties outside in the summer.
He persuaded his son to move back to the area by launching BX3 Oilfield Services to serve the oil and gas industry.
At first, the Kelleys thought they might expand to a chain of three or more stores. Now, they are focusing on just the two.
“These two counties have given us an opportunity,” he said.
They have 32 employees working at the two locations, and are able to provide full benefits, good insurance, and a safety program for their employees.
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