Increased high-rise development boosts business for Tampa firm

TAMPA — A statewide increase in vertical construction is boosting business for Tampa equipment provider Sims Crane & Equipment Co.

“Since the economy has picked back up, more high-rises are going up all over Florida, increasing the need for our construction elevators,” says Dean Sims II, the company's vice president of marketing, in a statement. “Currently, Sims has an elevator waiting list for 34 construction sites from across the state.”

Current projects using Sims elevators range statewide from Tampa to West Palm Beach to Miami. “As the South Florida region grows, the need for construction elevators increases,” says Melvin Baldree, Sims' Miami elevator rental specialist, in the statement. “And things are really booming right now.”

Sims' construction elevators are temporarily attached to the outside of a multi-story building under construction, the statement says. They can carry up to 6,000 pounds of material or 30 people at a time.

Founded in 1959, Sims Crane & Equipment Co. is the leading crane and rigging company in Florida, the statement says. It is ranked 18th in the ACT Top 100 for largest crane owning companies in North America.