north east regional extra | July 5 - 11, 2023
nemedia.com.au
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July 5 - 11, 2023
A new chapter for Benalla Towing By CHLOE JAENICKE
◆ NEW CHAPTER: Cathy Bennett, Sue Solimo, Vic Solimo, Harlen Black and Gary Bennett all celebrated the handover of Solimo Towing to Benalla Towing.
TWO companies that once were rivals have now become one as Benalla Towing purchases Solimo Towing. This comes as owners of Solimo Towing, Vic and Sue Solimo, retire after spending 46 years in the industry. Due to not being able to keep the towing company, that they have owned for 14 years, in the family, Mr Solimo said he reached out to Benalla Towing due to knowing a member of the family. “I decided to sell to Benalla Towing because I knew Harlen’s grandfather and I felt obligated
to ask them first,” he said. “My son helped me out a fair bit but wasn’t interested in taking over the business, he was happy to move on from it and do other things.” Director of Benalla Towing, Harlen Black said despite being in competition with Solimo Towing for years, they are excited to continue the legacy of Solimo Towing throughout the North East of Victoria and in Albury. “Although we have been rivals throughout the years, we always had a mutual respect for each other,” he said. “Now that the time has come for Vic and
Sue to retire, we feel we can continue to run the business just as successfully and make them proud.” Just like Solimo Towing was, Benalla Towing is a family owned business. Mr Black said that Benalla Towing was established over 30 years ago by Heather and Graham Arnold. Mr Black took over as the director nine years ago and convinced other family members to work with him. “I convinced my mum, Cathy, to move back home from Adelaide to help him run the busi-
ANIMAL CARE
YOUR GARDEN
BOOK NOOK
TOOL TALK
with PIXIE
with HELEN
with EDGARS BOOKS & NEWS
with RODNEY
ness in Benalla and also my uncle Gary in order to help manage our new venture in Wangaratta,” he said. “Benalla Towing has been family owned and operated throughout its entirety.” Over time, Mr Black said the industry has changed significantly, especially in terms of how jobs are found - creating fierce competition in the past for who could get to a job first. “When I first started, we used to have to listen to scanners and beat the opposition companies up to win jobs,” he said.
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