ROSSFORD —With the Murphy Tractor and Equipment company groundbreaking on Wednesday, their move from Perrysburg to their permanent location in Rossford begins.

“I think it’s absolutely fantastic. The diversity of industries we’re getting out there is amazing. They will cover a large territory. This will definitely put them in the traffic pattern that will also help entice other industries to the crossroads,” Mayor Neil MacKinnon said.

The company, which is based in Park City, Kansas, is one of John Deere’s largest North American construction equipment dealers. For three years they have operated a smaller temporary facility in Perrysburg.

“Once we get that facility up and running we will be adding service technicians, parts people, maybe some more sales people and administrative support. We certainly expect to grow the business,” Murphy Tractor President Bill Buckles said.

This newest John Deere equipment dealership in Rossford is expected to bring in twice the sales and will double the staff of 12 to 24.

“The Perrysburg facility was small by any standards and the new facility is going to be 30,000 square feet. A lot larger and will allow a lot of opportunity for growth and expansion. We anticipate the kind of volume growth that will allow us to double, or even go farther in Rossford,” Sonia Cox, Murphy Tractor marketing director, said.

Murphy operates in six states, with the exclusive dealership of construction equipment, not farm or turf equipment. In Ohio, Murphy is already in many cities, including Columbus, Cincinnati, Vandalia, Lima, Canton, Brunswick, Zanesville, Poland, Jackson and Cambridge.

The groundbreaking ceremony took place on Wednesday, at the project site located at 9400 Bass Pro Boulevard. Mosser Construction is the general contractor for the project. The Perrysburg facility is at 12418 Williams Road.

The project will be a 30,000 square foot, pre-engineered building that will include a sales area, showroom, parts warehouse and large service center with eight high bays for general equipment service. All bays will have the ability to be serviced with an overhead crane, providing a safer and efficient maintenance and repair process.

All exterior hard surfaces will be concrete, resulting in over 3.5 acres of new pavement. The new dealership will carry the John Deere line of new and used compact and construction equipment.

“Clearly, I think it’s great to have them in there, they’re a great organization and it’s a large development. It’s illustrative of the work Rossford has done in the Crossroads area,” Todd Audet, Rossford Economic development director, said.

The anticipated project completion is March.

“Murphy is a privately owned company and we are one of the largest John Deere construction equipment dealers in the world,” Buckles said. “(Northwest Ohio) was an open area that Deere asked us to engage in and start to cover, and assume the duties of selling their equipment there. It’s a growth opportunity for us. We’re basically everywhere else in the state. It’s a growth area with construction and there’s been a lot of growth in the Northwest Ohio area, with a bunch of good costumers already there.”

Murphy Tractor & Equipment Co. Inc. was founded in 1982. Murphy Tractor & Equipment has 31 locations throughout the states of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Staffed by over 700 employees, each location has a full complement of equipment and parts inventories, service technicians and field service capabilities.