Colmar Opens U.S. Store
by Mary E. Hill

Colmar S.p.A. of Italy is entering the North American market with a new office to be located in Buffalo, New York. Colmar's product line includes logger/balers, shear/logger/balers, and rubber-wheeled scrap handling cranes.

Colmar was founded in 1963 in Italy and delivered 198 units worldwide in 2001. The new U.S. location has been established under the name of Colmar USA, Inc. Plans began two years ago to establish a physical presence in the U.S. and up until December 2001, this Colmar S.p.A. had representation in the form of a North American distributor. Colmar products are manufactured in Italy. Replacement and spare components are stocked in the U.S. This improves the price and delivery time of replacement and spare parts for the units.

A factor in Colmar's decision was the large amount of scrap generated by North America. Compared to Italy, North America generates 10 times the amount of scrap for processing. This indicates a large number of potential customers to validate the expense of expanding further into the U.S. market.

Darrell Nowak, operations manager of Colmar USA, Inc. was hired largely due to his experience with the Colmar line of products. Giorgia Zanca will work at the location in Buffalo, assisting in sales. She will be a direct liaison with the factory in Italy to ensure a smooth and successful endeavor. Carlo Bortoletti and Giulio Marceglia have been appointed president and vice president of Colmar USA, Inc.

Mr. Nowak said, "my decision to accept the position was based upon the commitment by Colmar to provide full support to the operation and the success of the venture. I feel that the success of the line in the United States is based upon the reasonable pricing that will be offered and the fact that the design includes components available right here in the U.S.," he added.

Colmar USA, Inc. has five machines in production for stock— two scrap handlers, two shear/logger/balers and one roll-off equipped portable logger/baler. The roll-off equipped portable logger/baler will be on display at the ISRI convention in Las Vegas.