The phone number and the address have changed, but N.W. Crane Service continues its high-quality of customer service.

Kerry Karlson, owner of both N.W. Crane Service and N.W. Metal Fabrication, said N.W. Crane has a strong reputation for good customer service; something he and his crew strive for. The crane service has moved to 30806 E. Bensel Road. The new phone number is 289-7070 or 1-800-417-7917. The four-month-old building has 15,000 square feet for equipment and maintenance and 8 1/2 acres to move around on.

General Manager Arlin Phillips heads up a crew of nine employees, including Karlson’s son, Ryan, who he said has aspirations of running the business someday.

“We’re very service-oriented,” Karlson said. “We work hard to take good care of our customers.”

Karlson started the crane service operation 15 years ago, when a key customer asked him to do some crane work. The company bought its first crane and away they went.

“We kind of fell into the business,” he said.

Two years ago, Karlson split the metal fabricating shop from the crane service and N.W. Crane Service was born.

“Each were running in a different direction,” Karlson said. “We were outgrowing (N.W. Metal Fabricating’s) seven-and-a-half acres with the growth of the crane business.”

The crane service has four cranes – a 25-ton, 50-ton, 225-ton and a 360-ton – which allow crews to do just about anything a person might want a crane for. Cranes will come to job sites to do whatever customers needs, Karlson said.

“We’ve lifted swimming pools over houses, taken prefabbed barbecues and lifted them over houses, set boats and taken boats out of the water,” Karlson said.

The 50-ton crane has 142-foot boom, he said, and the 360-ton crane has a 266-foot boom. Before N.W. Crane Service got the bigger cranes, local contractors and other customers had to bring cranes from Portland and Seattle.

“It (the big crane) has been an asset to the community,” Karlson said. “The larger cranes are used for bridge work and windmill work. Anything that needs a lot of boom lifting.”

The crane service is keeping busy, Karlson said, with the roaring wind-energy business. The 260-ton crane has a 248,000 pound counter-weight that can be transported to the job site. The company has a fleet of semi-trucks and trailers to help move the counter-weights to the job sites. There is even a forklift that will lift 80,000 pounds to assist in lifting the windmill sections.

Karlson plans an open house 4:30-7 p.m. Oct. 16.