Garaventa Lift has purchased selected assets of ConQuest AccessAbility Inc. in Toronto and of Concord Elevator (BC) Ltd. in Vancouver.  The negotiations were successfully finalized on March 4, 2008.  With this purchase Garaventa Lift achieved its first step into the North American residential and LU/LA elevator manufacturing business. The Garaventa Lift Group is a privately owned global enterprise specializing in lifts and other assistive devices for the elderly and people with disabilities.

The contracts were signed on March 4, 2008 after the Boards of both companies approved the deal. Garaventa Lift has purchased selected assets of both ConQuest AccessAbility Inc. in Toronto and Concord Elevator (BC) Ltd. in Vancouver. The new Garaventa Lift divisions will be operating under the following names: Garaventa Lift Toronto and Garaventa Lift BC. 

The Garaventa Lift Group is a global leader in the accessibility industry.  Garaventa is known worldwide for its innovative products, excellent quality and top customer service.  Now it plans to carry forward this success by expanding into the residential elevator and Limited Use / Limited Application (LU/LA) elevator markets in Canada and the USA.  For Mark Townsend, CEO of Garaventa Lift, this step will further reinforce the position of the Garaventa Lift Group as a leading player in the industry.  

Thanks to Garaventa’s acquisition of selected assets of ConQuest AccessAbility Inc., Toronto, several outstanding elevator products are about to be introduced to the North American market: A residential elevator with a hydraulic drive and another requiring no machine room, a LU/LA elevator for public sector use, as well as a full cab commercial wheelchair lift for public sector use in Canada. 

With the acquisition of the selected assets of Concord Elevator (BC) Ltd., Vancouver, Garaventa Lift will be the leading accessibility provider in British Columbia.  

Vancouver is the city where Garaventa (Canada) Ltd was founded back in 1974. The Grouse Mountain SuperSkyride is one of Garaventa’s most prestigious Aerial Tramway installations. For the Garaventa Lift Group, Vancouver is its place of birth, one of the fastest growing cities in the world and also the ideal location to introduce these new and exciting products. 

For further information, contact Mark Townsend (President & CEO) mtownsend@garaventa.ca , Vince Sciamanna (Director of Business Development) vsciamanna@garaventa.ca or Juerg Gisler (Delegate of the Board) juerg.gisler@garaventa.com

Garaventa Lift has been awarded a contract to supply 250 Garaventa Evacu-Trac CD7 evacuation chairs to Chicago Public Schools. The chairs are to be installed in all schools to provide emergency evacuation for students with disabilities. Garaventa will be providing both chairs and operator training through our Garaventa Lift USA office in Antioch, just north of Chicago. Supply of the 250 Evacu-Tracs is now in process with all chairs scheduled for delivery by September 2007.

The Garaventa Evacu-Trac is generally regarding as the world’s best evacuation chair. Fast to deploy, rugged and equipped with unique safety features such as the patented hydraulic speed governor and failsafe brake, the Evacu-Trac is the first choice of emergency planning professionals.

Garaventa Lift offers Evacu-Tracs at individual or high-volume corporate or government rates. Garaventa has a supply contract with the GSA.

For more information on the Garaventa Evacu-Trac go to www.evacu-trac.com

For further details or a quotation contact our evacuation specialist, Mike Morisset, at mmorisset@garaventa.ca .

PRESS RELEASE

Garaventa Lift’s global expansion took another step forward with the recent establishment of an office in the Minhang District of Shanghai. Garaventa has been active in China for years. The business volume has now grown to the point where an office and full time staff is required.

With major contracts to supply Artira inclined platforms lifts for public access in both the Shanghai Metro and Beijing Metro, Garaventa is rapidly becoming an industry leader as the demand for products for people with disabilities continues to grow. At the moment Garaventa Lift is offering our straight and inclined platform lifts, full range of vertical platform lifts, unique stair climbing devices - the Garaventa Stair-Trac and Super-Trac, and our renowned emergency evacuation chair, the Garaventa Evacu-Trac. We are also the exclusive China representatives for Freelift straight and curving seat lifts from The Netherlands.

In keeping with our strategy to offer best value to our customers through competitive pricing, Garaventa Lift has adopting a global sourcing strategy, continuously searching the world for the best components at the best prices. A secondary role for the new Shanghai office will be the coordination of Garaventa Lift Group purchases from various manufacturers in China.

For information on Garaventa Lift’s new Shanghai operations, please contact John Zhuang at jzhuang@garaventa.ca

PRESS RELEASE

The Garaventa Lift Group’s Canadian operation has just launched a significant new web site aimed at the growing numbers of architects and specifiers who use the web as their main information resource. Located at www.garaventa.ca the new web site offers visitors a concise area for visitors looking for general information and new comprehensive area designed specifically for architects and specifiers.

The new site features photo-based product selectors and extensive visual content including many charts and illustrations. Resources include product application galleries, design guides, specification writing wizards, CAD blocks and other tools.

Visitors are also able to find their local representatives using our dealer locator tool that works by postal or zip codes of the lift site. Local dealers are able to provide site visits and invaluable information on local code requirements.

The response to the new site has been very positive with many design professionals commenting that it is the best site in the accessibility industry in terms of content and ease of use.

More information on the design and content of this new web site please contact Trish Morisset, Garaventa Lift Canada’s Marketing Manager, at tmorisset@garaventa.ca