History

Ron Nilson, owner and CEO has been providing CAT dealers worldwide with solutions for over 40 years. His knowledge and experience in the truck manufacturing industry is unparalleled. The relationship Ron has built with the CAT dealers has been a mutually beneficial one and has continued to offer more product solutions for Caterpillar dealers than any other OEM in the industry today – these solutions continue to exceed their expectations. Genuine Caterpillar loyalty and dedication to high quality and performance has solidified this strong relationship over the years. Nilson has worked in the manufacturing industry since 1971, starting as an entry level laborer, working his way up through the ranks to later become president of the company. Ron has successfully managed and owned several companies over the years, always selling products through the Caterpillar dealer organization. His company “Tiger Engineering Corp.” was based in Seattle and sold the world’s largest wheel dozers in North, South and Central America. Tiger USA represented about 70% of the world sales of the Australian based company. Tiger USA sold (their IP) to Caterpillar in 1997. In late 2000, he was introduced to Aresco, a 15 year old thriving manufacturing company in Post Falls, Idaho that was building and selling high volumes of mine support equipment across the world. It was a perfect fit – Ron purchased Aresco and changed the name to Ground Force Manufacturing. Ron’s goal with Ground Force was to increase the product line and take the company global. Today, Ground Force builds the world’s largest fuel & lube trucks, the world’s largest water trucks and the most diverse line of mine support equipment in the industry. We have 4 factories in North America, Europe and South America with our largest North American factory of 85,000 sq. ft. residing in beautiful Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. A new product line, UnderGround Force was launched in late 2012 and with recent growth, Ground Force Worldwide (parent company to Ground Force and UnderGround Force) now employs 200+ people. Our business is now 25% domestic and 75% international and has become a complete solution for CAT dealers servicing the open pit and underground mining industry in over 50 countries worldwide. We welcome you to experience the “Ground Force Difference!”