Page 18 - Peterson 85 Years and Going Strong

From a Caterpillar perspective, the Peterson transition between Bill and Duane Sr. was one of our best. When Bill made the decision, it was decisive. He turned over operations and, while he provided guidance, he did not meddle in the business or under- mine Duane’s authority with the executive committee.
– Ed Rapp, group president, Caterpillar, retired 2016
Peterson moved into its new Chico facility on July 1, 1958 to serve the Oroville Dam project and local customers.
needs of the heavy construction contractor. We had the inventories. We had the parts drops. We had the customer training, the equipment and tooling, the people and the trucks. And many of the big contractors were already our customers in the Bay Area. When they took on big jobs outside our ter- ritory, they wanted the same kind of customer ser- vice they were used to. The smaller dealers thought that after the dam was finished, business would dry up. They didn’t see a future in it. We got that territory, and all the others, because we put a high priority on customer service—meeting their needs, providing custom fabrication for tough problems, doing whatever it took. Caterpillar liked that so they awarded us the territories as they came up.”
SECOND GENERATION OWNERSHIP
By the time Bill Doyle took ownership in 1977, the glory days of California’s interstate program and huge water projects were over. Still, Peterson con- tinued to take on new territory whenever the op- portunity arose—both in good times and bad. The four years of the Carter Administration (1977–81) took a heavy toll on Peterson as the company transitioned into its second generation. “Nobody could borrow money because interest rates were so high,” recalls Bill Doyle of the historic 22 percent prime lending rate in late 1980. “Everything came to a dramatic slowdown. We just adjusted to live within that and survive.” During Doyle’s first de-
Peterson transitioned to second generation ownership in July 1977; (L-R) Bill Doyle and Howard Peterson
16 | PETERSON: 85 YEARS AND GOING STRONG