History

Our future is in our history

The J.A. Riggs Tractor Company has been part of the Arkansas landscape since 1927 when John Riggs, Sr. founded our fourth-generation, family-owned equipment dealership -known then as Arkansas Road Equipment Co. - and served as the dealer for Russell Grader Manufacturing. The following year, the company name was changed to Arkansas Tractor & Equipment Co. When Caterpillar subsequently purchased the Russell Grader Company in November 1928, Riggs was awarded the Caterpillar dealership franchise for 45 counties in Arkansas, thus making the company the first and largest Caterpillar dealership in the state. The company’s headquarters later moved to a larger facility in downtown Little Rock.

In 1930 John Riggs, Jr. joined the company, alongside his father, and in 1938 the company name was changed to the J.A. Riggs Tractor Co. During this time the first branch location was opened in West Memphis and the sales territory grew to include 66 counties. The mid 40’s saw the opening of two additional branch locations in Ft. Smith and McGehee.

By 1959 the third generation of family ownership was ushered in when John Jr.’s son, Jack, and son-in-law Bob Cress, joined the company. Later that year, Riggs’ current headquarters at 9125 Interstate 30 in southwest Little Rock was opened and was the largest facility of its kind in the state of Arkansas. Branch facilities were established in 1964 at Texarkana and the Jonesboro location opened in 1993.

The 1980s brought a fourth generation of family members to Riggs when Jack Riggs sons, John IV and Keith, joined the company as well as Bob Cress’s son, Rob. The late 90’s saw the introduction of the rental store concept and Riggs Rental Services, The Cat Rental Store was formed. New rental facilities were introduced at various locations across the state.

To better serve the needs of our customer, additional stores have been added across the state and in 2002 Riggs was able to acquire the nine remaining counties in Northwest Arkansas thus making Riggs Cat the Caterpillar dealer for all 75 counties in the state. New satellite stores in Hot Springs and Searcy have been added, bringing the total number of Riggs Cat facilities to twelve.

Riggs Cat is understandably proud of our heritage as well as the distinct honor of being one of the oldest Caterpillar dealerships in the United States. We are also equally as proud of our fourth generation leadership as each family member has contributed substantially to the growth of our company and has continued to build on the tradition of excellence established by our founder.

Today, Riggs Cat employs over 400 people statewide and operates ten facilities throughout Arkansas: Little Rock, West Memphis, Texarkana, Fort Smith, Jonesboro, El Dorado, Springdale, Harrison, Russellville, and Searcy. As the only Caterpillar Dealer in the state, we value the opportunity to meet all of your sales, parts, service and rental needs for your construction or agricultural equipment as well as truck engine and power generation.