Owner of century-old company says acquisition news confusion was not intentional
When the 115-year Messer Truck Equipment announced last week its acquisition of a small, South Portland-based oil truck equipment business, it didn’t intend to confuse HSE Gould with a larger, Bangor-based company that shares the same namesake and industry.
But that’s what happened when a July 24 Mainebiz story described HSE Gould as having originally been founded as Gould Equipment Co. in 1928, which is half the truth but doesn’t explain that the two companies — HSE Gould and Gould Equipment — are indeed separate. The original press release from Messer only had said that HSE “can trace its roots back to 1928, when Ralph Gould found [sic] Gould Equipment Company.”
The failure to distinguish HSE Gould from Gould Equipment has Tom Schwarm, the latter company’s president and owner, concerned that confusion caused by Messer’s announcement could have a negative impact on business.
Schwarm told Mainebiz on Monday that he started receiving calls last week from customers asking if his 19-employee business in Bangor had been bought. The answer was no, not at all.
“From the press release, it’s understandable that Mainebiz would word the story the way they did,” he said, referring to the story’s incorrect statement of HSE Gould having originally been founded as Gould Equipment. “We’re concerned that while the companies both service the oil industry, Gould is a 85-year-old company with capabilities not found in South Portland.”
HSE Gould and Gould Equipment may be separately owned, but they do share common heritage, according to Jim Sullivan, who previously was general manager of Gould Equipment when it was owned by Webber Oil Co. Sullivan is now vice president of operations for Webber, which sold its Energy Fuels division to Dead River Co. in 2012.
Gould Equipment was founded by Ralph Gould in 1928 in South Portland as an oil equipment distributor and eventually “expanded into the custom building of oil and propane trucks and became a dealer for Heil transport trailers,” according to the company’s website.
After the company was purchased by Webber in 1998, it opened a location in Bangor, Sullivan said. Eventually, he added, the company decided to consolidate Gould Equipment to focus on the Bangor market and sold the South Portland business in 2008 to Harrison Schrader Enterprises, which was leasing the building to Gould Equipment.
Sullivan said in selling the South Portland business to HSE, it was agreed at the time that HSE could use the Gould name to continue the same kind of business. “The Gould name was established and they wanted to maintain the local customer base,” he said.
In 2012, Webber sold Gould Equipment to Schwarm, who continues to operate the business on Hildreth Street North in Bangor. A history section on Gould Equipment’s website is careful to note that HSE Gould “has no relationship with Gould Equipment Company.”
HSE adopting the Gould name may not have been seen as problem when Webber sold the South Portland business.
But Schwarm said it has been in the past few years because HSE Gould and Gould Equipment both serve the same industry. He said he has lost customers in the past because of the confusion, which is why he decided to speak up when Messer made its announcement last week.
Jeffrey Messer, president and owner of Messer, told Mainebiz that he didn’t mean to create confusion between the two companies.
“I understand where Schwarm’s coming from,” he said. “The point was that HSE Gould had its roots [with Gould Equipment.] At one time, [the] South Portland and Bangor [locations] had common ownership, but now they’re both operated and owned independently.”
Schwarm said the most important takeaway is this: “We just want to make sure people understand they are two different companies.”
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