RDO Equipment opens new facility in Launceston's northern suburbs

From the new $8.5 million facility, RDO will supply John Deere and Vermeer equipment to the state's construction and forestry industry. The dealership was first established in Minnesota in the 1960s and is now the largest John Deere dealer in the world.

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Despite its size, RDO didn't make its debut in Australia until 2019, when it was named the official dealer for John Deere construction and forestry equipment in all states - barring Western Australia. Only two years later, RDO Australia Group employs about 800 staff across 29 locations.

While the company offers agricultural equipment elsewhere, its operations in Tasmania will focus on the construction and forestry industries.

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Moving from its old location in Invermay, the new facility has been set up 10 minutes away in Rocherlea. The new location was chosen - among other reasons - for its size as well as for its pride-of-place location just off George Town Road.

The company expected the new location to contribute millions of dollars to the local economy and provide employment opportunities, through the facility's increased capacity - which can service more machines - and also through the company's field services division.

At the grand opening of the new facility earlier this week, operations manager George Pitt said the site was already employing about a dozen people.

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"We're up to 12 so far, but that looks to increase as we expand. This is really the golden mile for original equipment manufacturers," he said.

Meanwhile, RDO Equipment's new chief executive, Phil Canning, said this new dealership meant big things for local customers.

"Our investment in this new location signals our support of the sectors that contribute billions of dollars to the Tasmanian economy - agriculture, roads, construction, environmental, landscaping, mining, and forestry sectors - across our two world leading machinery brands, John Deere and Vermeer," he said.

Mr Canning went on to say that the new branch would start with four service technicians, working across six service bays, but added that the company expected to expand that capacity over the coming year.

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Mr Canning also flagged the facility's focus on career growth and employee training.

"With a larger footprint in the region, we will be looking to invest more into training and development for our employees, and also investing in a strong apprentice program," he said.

"We want to be bringing in more up-and-comers and help develop their careers throughout RDO Equipment in these exciting industry sectors."

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