Superior Crane Corp marks 70 years of building powerful cranes with a major factory expansion
Utilizing its extensive engineering expertise in the field of crane and component technology application, Superior Crane Corp (Superior Crane) manufactures a variety of overhead cranes, ranging from standard models to unique cranes tailored for the most demanding lifting requirements. Its story traces all the way back to 1956, when Elroy Potratz founded E.W. Potratz, a dealership for P&H (Pawling & Harnischfeger), a crane manufacturer based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1972, E.W. Potratz merged with Superior Hoist and Crane, which had been founded by Paul LeGant, and the combined business became known as Potratz Su-perior Crane Company. At that point, the organization started building small cranes and offering service and parts, while continuing to subcontract with P&H. In 1990, Paul took full control of the business and renamed it Superior Crane Corporation. As the company celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, Robert Healy, President and CEO, talks us through its evolution since he became involved in the late 1980s.
“I joined the company in 1988, when Paul was looking to grow the machining side of the business in order to manufacture breakdown and replacement parts in-house. Unfortunately, Paul passed away in 1995. Following his passing, myself and a colleague named Andy Sharp bought into the estate alongside Paul’s son, Eric. Together we acquired the company to ensure it could continue operating. Over the years, the business has grown from six employees in 1956 to 87 today. I am now the last remaining member of the original trio to totally own the company. I share ownership with my two sons, Ryan and Chris, who hold a portion of the company, but I remain the majority owner of Superior Crane,” he begins.
When Robert joined the business in 1988, Superior Crane was building only five-to-nine small cranes a year. Following the acquisition in 1995, the company’s output grew dramatically to over 200 cranes annually. Its engineering team and machine shop have increased significantly, and that sustained growth has been cen-tral to Superior Crane’s longevity across seven decades in business. That momentum shows no sign of slowing, as the company is currently in the process of expanding its facility to support further growth.
“In 1998, we moved into our 208 Wilmont Drive, Waukesha, facility, an 80,000 square foot site that we have expanded twice since then. Having reached the limits of what we can do on that site, I purchased two properties to the west of us back in 2015, knowing that at some point we would want to build a new facili-ty. Last summer, we decided the time had come. We are demolishing one of those buildings and con-structing a completely new facility spanning 32,000 square feet. It is 120 feet wide, 270 feet long and 71 feet tall, which are particularly important dimensions as we move further into hot metal cranes and gantry cranes, as these products demand significantly more vertical and floor space to build. The new facility will house two 100-ton overhead cranes, giving us a total lifting capacity of 400,000 pounds, which is the ca-pacity we need to manufacture heavy-duty hot metal cranes at the scale we are targeting. We started this process in July 2025 and expect the facility to be totally operational by October,” he continues.
Training young people
Although the new facility addresses Superior Crane’s capacity issues, there is another important, indus-try-wide challenge that no building can solve: finding the skilled people to produce and deliver its offerings. Committed to attracting more people into the industry, the company has established Superior Crane Corp University (SCCU), which supports the training of employees. “In the US, few people are still getting into the skilled trades, and we have struggled to find qualified people for years as a result. Six years ago, we came up with a solution: to start training young people ourselves and bring them back into the trades. Our philosophy was to bring in dual-enrolled students from local high schools through a program we call SCCU. We expose our students to every facet of the business from machining and electrical to fabrication and service, letting them job shadow across departments while paying them to be here. Halfway through the
program, they are asked to pick an area that they want to focus on, and from that point they work along-side the team on the floor every day.
“Beyond the technical training, we also run classroom sessions covering life skills, financial literacy and more. The program runs for two years during which we pay our students a competitive wage, and if they decide to continue, we fund their apprenticeship through trade school. Once qualified, they are welcome to come back to us. So far, retention has been strong, helping us increase our number of employees, in-cluding some in their early twenties who have been with us since they were 16 or 17. Ultimately, this pro-gram is about investing in their futures, but it is also about doing our part to keep skilled trades alive in the industry,” Robert ends.
Seventy years in, Superior Crane stands as a full-service design, engineering and manufacturing firm with a reputation built on precision, reliability and deep industry expertise. Committed to far more than building cranes, the business is investing in the skilled team, advanced capabilities and robust infrastructure needed to meet the demands of an evolving market. With its foundations firmly in place and its ambitions clearly defined, Superior Crane looks well-positioned to ensure its next chapter is every bit as strong as the seven decades that came before it.
