Van Keppel, 1801 N 9th St, Kansas City, KS 66101, US

From its small beginning in 1911, Victor L. Phillips Company has grown into one of the Midwest's leading construction equipment dealers. Today, the firm covers western Missouri and all of Kansas and has branches in Garden City, Wichita, Topeka, Kan., Joplin, Springfield and its headquarters in Kansas City, Mo. In the beginning the company handled three product lines. Of the three, one was a horse-drawn, tip-over concrete cart; another was an asphalt kettle, built by a blacksmith. But, the fledgling company had assets beyond equipment like innovation and a commitment to service. The company sells well-known brand names in the heavy construction and materials processing equipment industries. VLP rents quality heavy equipment from an inventory of newer model machines. The majority of VLP's rental fleet is less than 2-years old. VLP inventories more than $2 million of parts in stock and immediately available. Each location has its own extensive parts inventory managed by a parts staff. Each of the company's six locations employ some of the best heavy equipment mechanics in the business. Additionally, its 18 field service technicians are on call 24/7, with fully equipped service trucks that are virtually service departments on wheels.