Coastal Equipment Corporation - Celebrating 70 Years of Service

As Hampton Roads has continued to grow, Coastal Equipment Corporation has grown right along with it. As the primary John Deere construction equipment dealer in the region, the team works closely with customers to provide and maintain equipment like excavators, backhoes, dump trucks, and bulldozers. “If a customer needs to move dirt, for a road project, site development, or utility project, we can help,” says Jeff Clay, president. “We have solutions and an experienced team that can help with any construction site need.” 

Herbert Clay, Jeff’s grandfather, opened Princess Anne Equipment in 1952 after working for a John Deere dealer in Suffolk. “Back then, Virginia Beach was much more rural than it is now, so he focused on agricultural equipment,” says Jeff. Bob Clay, Jeff’s father, joined the business in 1974 and pivoted the company’s focus to construction equipment, changing the company’s name to Coastal Equipment Corp. in 1975. Jeff and his sister Julie joined the company in the 1980s and continue to work alongside their father today.

 “We have the privilege of dealing with some of the families that my grandfather dealt with many years ago,” says Jeff. “My grandfather and dad laid a strong foundation of integrity, quality, and service, and we’ve worked hard to maintain that.” 

Coastal Equipment Corp. has 32 team members who serve clients from their offices in Virginia Beach and Yorktown. Remarkably, the average tenure at the company is 18 years, and in 2022, three team members celebrated 40 years of service at Coastal. “We strive to make it a great place to work, which is an important value that also benefits the company,” Jeff says. “Thanks to our years of experience, our team can pick the right machine, the right service solution, or find the right parts to keep any project up and running.” The knowledgeable team works with customers to sell new and used equipment and offers parts and services to fix machinery critical to the job site. With the help of large service trucks, technicians are also able to provide quick, on-site assistance to customers. 

Coastal Equipment Corp is the leading John Deere construction equipment dealer in the region, providing everything from bulldozers to dump trucks, excavators, and more.

In 2020, Coastal Equipment Corp. completed a remodel of their Virginia Beach facility. “The new space allows us to provide an elevated level of service to our customers for the next 70 years,” says Jeff. “Our commitment remains the same, and we will continue to invest in technology to deliver solutions that allow our customers to be more productive, efficient, and profitable.” 

TowneBank has been a proud partner of Coastal Equipment Corp for several years. “We were initially interested in the services offered by Blake Hadley with Towne Benefits but were quickly amazed by the broad service options available at Towne,” says Jeff. “Moving to TowneBank was a natural transition, and Charity, Karen, and the team at Towne have been amazing advisors, both personally and professionally.” 

Congratulations to Coastal Equipment Corp for celebrating 70 years and four generations of family business! Learn more at CoastalEquipment.net.