MILESTONES: Sims Crane celebrates 65 years

A handful of crane companies in North America are more than 50 years old, and the ranks are growing smaller. When one of these milestone anniversaries comes around, it’s time to celebrate. That’s just what the team at Sims Crane family of companies did on January 7, 2024.

At its 65th anniversary celebration, Sims Crane & Equipment honored employees and vendors. There was a barbecue cookoff, a Truck and Crane Rodeo and all sorts of awards presentations.

The day-long celebration featured Truck and Crane Rodeo Championships, a barbecue competition, fabulous food and drinks, games and live music. The day culminated with an awards presentation honoring the rodeo champions, and barbecue competition. Raffle prizes were donated by the company’s manufacturing and business partners. The Sims Family Scholarship was awarded and the Sims Salesman of the Year was recognized. Other activities included a Sims Wear and New Field Uniform Fashion Show.

“We were honored and proud to celebrate 65 years with our valued employees and their families, customers and friends, and we look forward to 65 more years of success and beyond,” said Sims CEO Deborah Weber.

Family legacy

Sims Crane was started in 1959 as Florida State Steel Erectors by Thomas H. Sims, who was an iron worker. That company later became Sims Crane Service, and by the late 1970s, the company claimed to own the largest fleet of rental cranes in the world.

But the economic hard times of the early 1980s put Sims Crane Service in an overleveraged position, and the company barely survived, according to an article in American Cranes & Transport in June 2023. By the middle 1980s, under the leadership of Thomas Sims’ son Dean P. Sims, the company became Sims Crane & Equipment and began to thrive once again.

Sims Crane was started in 1959 as Florida State Steel Erectors by Thomas H. Sims, who was an iron worker.

Dean Sims passed away in June 2022, leaving the company’s future in the hands of the third generation of the Sims family and its team of seasoned industry professionals.

“Over the last few decades, Sims has weathered many ups and downs, and learned a lot of lessons along the way about our industry,” SimsHD CEO Erika Sims told ACT in June 2023. “Today, thanks to great people, we have become a strong company and a leader in our Florida market.”

Sims Crane & Equipment is known for its innovative safety practices and education, sophisticated technology and financial stability.

The day-long celebration featured Truck and Crane Rodeo Championships, a barbecue competition, fabulous food and drinks, games and live music.

Going green

In September of 2023, Sims Crane & Equipment showcased the world’s first battery powered crawler crane – the Liebherr LR 1250.1 Unplugged – at its corporate headquarters in Tampa. Sims Crane hosted the crawler crane’s U.S. debut event in conjunction with the crawler crane’s designer and producer Liebherr Cranes.

“We are honored to partner with Liebherr and be on the forefront to serve a vastly growing need for alternative energy,” said Jackson Sims, vice president of Sims Crane & Equipment.

Sims offers a broad selection of equipment for heavy lifting and hauling applications for construction and industrial projects, and it has the largest crane rental fleet in Florida.