About Us

Red Emond, president and co-owner

After beginning as a laborer with Rapicon in 1973, Red went on to lead the erection and dismantling team for the next 23 years. Having built significant experience from “the ground up”, through 23 years of doing what he loved every day, Red’s rise to management in 1996, evolved naturally. With first hand understanding of the challenges and needs of the construction industry, and with genuine love for the wonder of tower cranes, Rapicon has flourished and undergone its own evolutionary process. Committed, involved and excited, Red acquired shares in 2001 and became co-owner of Rapicon.

Founded in 1928 in La Clayette, France, Potain has become the world leader in Tower Cranes. Over 100,000 Potain cranes have been sold all around the world and are currently being used for major projects such as the renovation of the La Scala opera house in Milan, and the construction of the Nanjing Bridge #3 in China, which will become one of the world’s longest cable-stayed bridges. MD3600’s will be working on the bridge at heights of up to 656 feet with a maximum lifting capacity of 160 tons.

In 2001, the U.S. based Manitowoc Company Inc., the leading worldwide manufacturer of high-capacity, lattice-boom crawler-cranes, took over Potain SA. Since then, Rapicon has been able to take advantage of Manitowoc’s comprehensive crane care service and parts warehouse in North America, which is based out of Shady Grove, Pennsylvania.

Since we began renting out cranes to the construction industry in 1966, the versatility, reliability and other strengths of Potain’s cranes have become very familiar to us. The adaptability of the cranes have allowed us to serve the needs of a whole range of different project types. The fast, controlled, and consistent performance of their winches offers a significant amount of added value whilst the cranes can be counted on to continue working even under extreme conditions. The erection and dismantling innovations developed by Potain add further to the speed with which our cranes can be erected, saving time and cost. Just as the capacity capabilities grow more impressive each year, so do the technological advancements: There is a spectrum of computerized information which is now gathered and available to the operator, to provide better control.

Based on the respect and faith we have gained working with these cranes over the years, it seemed a natural transition in 2005 for Rapicon to become a dealership for Potain tower cranes.