For Walker Machinery, the Past Is Prologue

Like many other machine sales businesses, family ties and professional friendships have helped secure the foundation of Walker Machinery LTD. And there’s every reason to believe that, through the Machinery Dealers National Association (MDNA), those same factors will play an important role in the Canadian company’s future.
 
‘Taking part in (MDNA) events and the networking through the years has really helped us do our job better,” says Chris Walker, CEA, president of Walker Machinery. The company specializes sales of new and used metal-cutting and shaping equipment, primarily lathes, saws, drills and horizontal and vertical  boring mills.  Walker also offers appraisal services for used equipment and is a member of the Association of Machinery and Equipment Appraisers (AMEA). The company was founded in 1996 by Chris Walker’s father, Lee, who officially retired just last year. Vice President Ryan Walker now heads the five-person operation with his brother Chris, doing business from a facility in Milton, just 25 miles from Toronto International Airport and not far from the western shore of Lake Ontario.
 
The company is marking its 25th year of MDNA membership in 2024, and Chris Walker says that relationship has been instrumental in making the business what it is today. Most of Walker Machinery’s customer base is in Canada, but it also does considerable business in the U.S., as well as in Eastern Europe and Taiwan. Joining he MDNA, Walker says, “defined a way for us the stretch our legs to the U.S. market,” and was the right move for the company.  Membership not only provided Walker with the kind of professional credibility others value, but Walker came to rely on fellow MDNA members for advice and direction as the company grew. “It has made it easier for us to do business internationally,” he notes.
 
Though Walker Machinery’s initial sales emphasis was on used equipment, the strong relationships that developed with new-equipment suppliers like Heidenhain and several other European-based concerns, shifted the company’s emphasis, and Walker says, “We’re now involved with more new machinery than with used.”
 
As time has seen significant changes at Walker Machinery, one constant in their business focus will be the stability and other advantages that has come with MDNA membership. Walker doesn’t see that changing.
 
“Frankly, as you get a little older you look for ways to make life more convenient,” he reflects. “Through the MDNA and the AMEA, we have found ways to do what we can to make our demanding jobs a little easier.”

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