According to its website, General Crane has provided hoisting and crane services to Southern Florida since 1972. For 30 years, the company was owned solely by founder Steven J. Retterath and headquartered in Pompano Beach, FL.

Other members of the Retterath family, including Steven’s brother, Robert, and his sons, Jason and Andrew, also worked for General Crane. The company grew steadily during the 1980s and 90s, buying out at least two smaller crane businesses.

In December 2002, Steven Retterath sold most of General Crane’s assets (including its fleet of cranes, hoisting equipment and other vehicles) to a newly-formed company called Gulfstream Crane, LLC. Gulfstream Crane was controlled by his son, Jason S. Retterath, and his long-time general manager, James A. Robertson. Gulfstream Crane continues to use the General Crane name, now operating under the fictitious business name “General Crane USA.” The new company continued to operate out of the existing Pompano Beach crane yard.

Steven Retterath, though, continues to wholly own the company called General Crane, Inc. as well as another company called General Crane (USA), Inc. Both are distinct entities from Gulfstream Crane, LLC (aka General Crane USA). Also, Steven Retterath still owns General Crane USA’s headquarters property.

Based on a March 2007 deposition from James Robertson, he and Jason Retterath are equal partners in Gulfstream Crane. However, their roles in the company, according to Robertson, are markedly different. Retterath is “more field and operations and the mechanical support staff,” while Robertson claimed to manage “financial areas, sales, operations.”

In recent years General Crane USA has expanded dramatically, opening crane yards in Georgia and Texas. In 2006, the company ordered 60 Linden Comansa tower cranes for $35 million along with 20 Liebherr all-terrain truck cranes. The following year the company ordered 16 Liebherr Nenzing crawler cranes for $30 million. According to Robertson, the company invested $100 million in new crane purchases in the past few years.

Robertson summed up the company’s direction in a statement to Lift & Access magazine in September 2006 (see photo above).

General Crane USA’s gamble has proved less than prescient, as the company has become mired in financial problems since the onset of the recession. In the summer of 2009 two major lenders that helped finance the company’s recent acquisitions, Banc of America Leasing & Capital, LLC and Center Capital Corporation, filed separate lawsuits against the company in federal court to recover millions of dollars in delinquent debt. In November 2009, General Crane confronted its largest lawsuit yet when equipment financer SL Financial Services Corp. sued to repossess 14 cranes valued at approximately $25 million. Days later Wells Fargo sued General. Numerous other smaller creditors also sued General Crane USA in 2009 to recoup unpaid debts. Finally, in December 2009 Gulfstream Crane filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The case is currently ongoing. For additional information, visit the Lawsuits and Finance sections on this website.

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