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Key people at Sandhills Publishing.
Sandhills Global is an information processing company that facilitates transactions between buyers and sellers within the construction, agriculture, transportation, and aviation industries. It develops comprehensive platforms encompassing print publications, online marketplaces, and integrated cloud services, providing tools for inventory management, advertising, e-commerce, logistics, and market data analysis for heavy equipment and machinery. This multi-channel approach enables efficient discovery and sales across retail, rental, wholesale, and auction sectors globally.
The company was founded in 1978 as Peed Corporation by Tom and Rhonda Peed, launching its first publication, Machinery Trader, from an old blacksmith shop. Their initial insight was to address the crucial need for connecting buyers and sellers in the used construction equipment market. This foundational understanding drove a steady expansion into serving other specialized industries, evolving from manual print processes to advanced digital solutions.
Sandhills Global serves a diverse customer base, including equipment dealers, manufacturers, auctioneers, and individual businesses worldwide. Its vision is to be the essential conduit for facilitating sales and providing critical market intelligence that empowers these industries. The company consistently invests in robust technological infrastructure and data processing capabilities, ensuring its platforms remain central to connecting the global economy's vital sectors.
Sandhills Global, formerly Sandhills Publishing, is a privately held information processing company founded in 1978 that connects buyers and sellers in niche industries like construction, agriculture, transportation, aviation, and heavy machinery through print publications, websites, hosted technology services, software, and events.[1][5][6] It builds and maintains trade magazines such as *Machinery Trader*, online marketplaces, real-time market data platforms, and cloud-based solutions for dealers, auctioneers, brokers, and manufacturers worldwide, serving millions of readers and businesses in retail, wholesale, rental, and auction markets.[1][3][5] The company solves the problem of fragmented information in equipment and asset marketplaces by aggregating data, enabling efficient transactions, and evolving from manual print operations to advanced digital infrastructure, with estimated annual revenue of $387M and around 1,100 employees operating from a 68-acre campus in Lincoln, Nebraska, plus international subsidiaries.[2][5]
Tom and Rhonda Peed founded the company in 1978 as Peed Corporation in an old blacksmith shop in Webster City, Iowa, with a team of seven employees, including Tom Peed's parents.[1][2] They launched their first publication, *Machinery Trader*, in March 1978—a trade magazine for used construction equipment buyers and sellers—produced manually with hand-placed images, bound books, and hand-labeled copies for an initial print run of 20,000 distributed via pickup truck.[1][2] Early success led to expansion into new publications like *Processor*, *Controller*, and *Truck Paper* by 1985, adoption of online technologies in the 1980s, relocation to a 68-acre headquarters in Lincoln, Nebraska, and a rename to Sandhills Publishing (inspired by Nebraska's sandhill cranes) before rebranding to Sandhills Global in 2019 to reflect its tech-driven global evolution.[1][3][4]
Sandhills Global rides the trend of digital transformation in industrial marketplaces, digitizing traditionally analog sectors like heavy equipment and ag by providing real-time data and hosted platforms amid rising global trade and e-commerce in B2B assets.[3][5] Its timing capitalized on early internet adoption in the 1980s and cloud scaling post-2000s, aligning with market forces like supply chain globalization, equipment auctions boom, and data analytics demand in fragmented industries.[1][4] The company influences the ecosystem by powering transactions for industries "that power the global economy," enabling small dealers to compete with multinationals through accessible tech and data, while maintaining print as a trusted channel in rural/heavy-industry niches.[1][5]
Sandhills Global is poised to deepen AI and data analytics integration for predictive market tools, expanding hosted services amid growing demand for real-time insights in ag, construction, and aviation as electrification and sustainability trends accelerate equipment turnover.[3][5] Evolving regulations on emissions and global supply chains will favor its established networks, potentially boosting international growth via acquisitions. Its influence may grow as a quiet backbone for industrial digital marketplaces, much like its journey from a blacksmith shop to global tech enabler—persevering through tech shifts to connect essential industries.[1][4]
Key people at Sandhills Publishing.
