History

Following the advice of Horace Greeley (“Go West young man”), Jim Coyle left his home state of New Jersey and came to Colorado in 1980 to find his fortune in the oil field. He had been hired by a manufacturer of large bore lathes to sell their products to energy services companies. The oil bust of the 80’s followed shortly thereafter and Jim found himself without a job, but with a love for Colorado and the customers that had become his friends.

Jim founded Action Machinery in 1982 with assets that consisted mostly of an unfaltering belief in himself and the support of Maria, his wife. Success was hard earned, but over the years Jim developed a good business based on honesty, hard work and finding solutions that helped his customers become successful.

I met Jim Coyle in the early ‘90’s when Action Machinery became a Haeger Press representative. I was the sales and marketing manager for Haeger at the time. During a sales trip to Colorado I asked Jim what he was going to do with his company when he retired. Jim’s reply was simple: “I need to find some young guy like you to sell it to.” In April of 1994 I became a partner in the company and over the next three years Jim imparted his wisdom in business practices, product knowledge and most importantly, his passion for his profession.

Action Machinery now serves manufacturers in 6 western states and represents leading machine tool builders from around the world. Our office in Salt Lake City is managed by my partner, Tom Weaver, who joined the company in 2003.

Whether your company is made up of 5, 500, or 5000 people, chances are that there is a story of humble beginnings in your history. Thank you for taking the time to learn about ours!

Randy Breitenbach