Equipment rental trailblazers Tran Kim Dzung, the first to bring aerial equipment to Vietnam, and Sarah Rothenbuhler one of the first sole female owners of a full line equipment rental company in the U.S. met recently at Birch’s headquarters in Bellingham, WA.
Terex / Genie Industries works closely with both Rothenbuhler and Mdme Dzung as they continue building their aerial fleets. Rothenbuhler and her procurement team has built the largest concentration of aerial equipment fleet — 1,000+ booms, scissors and telehandlers — in the region in facilities in Washington and Alaska. Mdme Dzung has expanded her company’s 800+ (and growing) aerial fleet as a Genie dealer since 2001. Genie decided the two needed to get together when Mdme Dzung traveled to Washington State this spring.
“Madame Dzung is very interested in understanding how successful rental companies operate in the US,” said James Barr, VP/GM Asia Pacific. Mdme Dzung founded her company Tuyet Nga Ltd. (TNC) in 1995 and was first to market with aerial equipment rental in Vietnam.
“The biggest hurdle (starting out) was introducing aerial equipment to a market that had no knowledge or expertise with aerials, or knowledge of the safety and economic benefits of aerials…” said Mdme Dzung. “It has been a long but successful journey.”
Before founding TNC in 1995, Mdme Dzung worked for the Vietnamese embassy in Russia then taught English and Russian in her hometown, Hanoi, Vietnam. In 1998, she began searching for U.S. companies to do business with because she wanted to send her daughter to the U.S. to study. Aerials were familiar to TNC, which was already working in the industrial equipment market.
Like Mdme Dzung, Rothenbuhler worked in a variety of industries. After growing up in the construction industry in Washington and Southeast Alaska, Rothenbuhler worked for the NFL with the Seahawks before deciding to return to her roots in the mid-90s, saving the company from shutting its doors by building systems, customers, pride among Birch’s crews and continually innovating.
“We’re always working to solve industry frustrations for our customers as well as increasing our dependability by way of depth charts, cross training, eliminating wasted motion and avoiding getting ‘stuck’ in old ways of doing things,” said Rothenbuhler.
Birch has eight locations in Washington state — with multiple locations in Snohomish County, Skagit County, Whatcom County and also Sitka, Alaska.
Read the full story about Mdme Dzung’s visit in Aerial Pros
