EquipmentShare Breaks Ground on Headquarters Expansion in Columbia, Missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 8, 2026--

EquipmentShare.com Inc (Nasdaq: EQPT) (“EquipmentShare”), a leader in connected jobsite technology and one of the largest construction equipment rental providers in the United States, today joined state and local dignitaries, to break ground on the expansion of its corporate headquarters in Columbia, Mo. Today’s ceremony, held at the headquarters campus at 5710 Bull Run Dr., marked the commencement of construction on the third corporate facility at the EquipmentShare campus. Remarks were delivered by EquipmentShare CEO and founder Jabbok Schlacks, Missouri Department of Economic Development (“DED”) Director Michelle Hataway, Boone County Commissioner Kip Kendrick, Columbia City Mayor Barbara Buffaloe, and Coil Construction, Inc President David Coil.

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"Columbia has been our home from the very beginning, and breaking ground on this third building underscores our deep commitment to growing right here in Mid-Missouri," said Jabbok Schlacks, CEO and founder of EquipmentShare. "This state-of-the-art expansion provides room for up to 300 corporate team members, giving our workforce the space they need as we continue building the future of construction. We are grateful to our partners for their unwavering support in our continued success."

The new 70,000-square-foot, two-story facility will provide space for up to 300 team members. Designed to foster collaboration and efficiency, the building will feature an executive business center, multi-purpose large meeting and event spaces, and a full-service corporate cafeteria, providing the physical room required to fulfill EquipmentShare’s previously announced commitment of bringing 500 new jobs to the region. Built with sustainability in mind, the facility is designed to accommodate photovoltaic solar panels and electric vehicle charging installations.

“From its beginnings in Columbia to becoming a national industry leader, EquipmentShare continues to invest, innovate, and create opportunities for Missourians to prosper,” said DED Director Michelle Hataway. “Team DED is proud to see a homegrown company contribute to our state’s economic momentum - time and time again.”

“EquipmentShare’s continued growth is a great example of the momentum we’re seeing in our community, and we’re proud to partner with them on this exciting next chapter,” said David Coil, President of Coil Construction. “This new 70,000-square-foot facility represents more than a building, it’s an investment in people, innovation and the future of our community. EquipmentShare continues to push the construction industry forward, and their commitment to excellence aligns closely with our own. We’re honored through our Design-Build process to support another growing business that is making such a meaningful impact here and across the industry.”

Upon completion of the facility, EquipmentShare’s main corporate campus will encompass three facilities totaling 170,000 square feet. The campus sits near the company’s original equipment rental branch and its central distribution center, which supplies parts, technology, and consumables to customers and over 430 locations nationwide. With more than 15 rental, research and development, and corporate facilities operating statewide, the groundbreaking reflects EquipmentShare’s rapidly deepening footprint and economic impact across Missouri.

"Boone County is incredibly proud to support an innovative homegrown leader like EquipmentShare as they continue to expand their footprint," said Kip Kendrick, Boone County Presiding Commissioner. "This investment in Boone County not only strengthens our local economy and infrastructure, but it also demonstrates what is possible when modern technology and local talent come together."

"EquipmentShare’s continued investment in Columbia is a powerful testament to our region's thriving economic landscape and talent pipeline," said Mayor Barbara Buffaloe. "We are proud to see a homegrown tech leader continue to scale nationally while strengthening its roots right here in our community."

"We’re proud that EquipmentShare continues to invest in their headquarters right here in Columbia and Boone County, bringing high quality jobs to our community alongside their remarkable national growth,” said Paul Eisenstein, President of Regional Economic Development, Inc.

Construction is expected to be completed in mid-2028, with a formal grand opening event to follow.

About EquipmentShare

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Columbia, Missouri, EquipmentShare (Nasdaq: EQPT) is a nationwide construction technology and equipment solutions provider dedicated to transforming the construction industry through innovative tools, platforms and data-driven insights. By empowering contractors, builders and equipment owners with its proprietary technology, T3®, EquipmentShare aims to drive productivity, efficiency, and collaboration across the construction sector. With a comprehensive suite of solutions that includes a fleet management platform, telematics devices and a best-in-class equipment rental marketplace, EquipmentShare continues to lead the industry in building the future of construction. For more information, visit www.equipmentshare.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes certain “forward-looking statements” for purposes of United States federal and state securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements other than statements of historical fact and can be identified by words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “preliminary,” “predict,” “should,” “will,” or “would” or the negative of these terms and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, which include statements regarding the expected design, capacity, features and timing of completion of the new headquarters facility; EquipmentShare’s hiring plans and its commitment to create new jobs in the region; and EquipmentShare’s anticipated growth; are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond EquipmentShare’s control, including but not limited to, risks and uncertainties related to construction delays, cost overruns or changes in project scope; the availability and cost of labor and materials; the performance of contractors; changes in EquipmentShare’s business needs or hiring plans; general economic conditions; and the other risks and uncertainties. For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties, please refer to EquipmentShare’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission available at www.sec.gov. All forward-looking statements, expressed or implied, included in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Except as otherwise required by applicable law, EquipmentShare disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking statements, all of which are expressly qualified by the statements in this section, to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release.

Company executives joined local and state officials to turn the dirt on new expansion

PARIS (AP) — Students barricaded a high school in northeastern Paris with garbage bins on Thursday before police moved in with tear gas, as France’s nationwide protests showed few signs of ending.

The Hélène Boucher high school has been a flashpoint for clashes in the French capital and was one of hundreds of schools disrupted by protests Thursday. Riot police gathered in side streets as students converged on the school. Many protesters wore surgical masks or hoodies, apparently to avoid being recognized.

At least a dozen demonstrations supporting the high school students’ movement were planned across France later in the day, including a rally at Place de la Bastille in Paris, where tear gas and a water cannon were fired at protesters.

Police have made more than 6,600 arrests since late September, when students, most of them under 18, began protesting to demand more education funding, according to the Interior Ministry. The Education Ministry said 375 schools were fully or partially closed Thursday.

While the number of school closures was down compared to Tuesday, pressure is mounting on the government of outgoing President Emmanuel Macron.

The protests against the underfunding of schools — many of them struggling with dilapidated facilities and insufficient staff — have drawn troublemakers not concerned about the aims of the protest movement as well as unions and political groups.

In a TV address, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu lamented the “violence, students and staff being attacked, police officers and gendarmes injured, schools set on fire or vandalized, thousands of hours of classes lost, not to mention threats and insults.”

He took aim at “political leaders who use this anger to conduct their electoral battles.” France goes to the polls for a presidential election in April. “We cannot play with the safety of France’s youth,” Lecornu said.

At the Lycee, 18-year-old university student Emma Khelil came to offer support to those at the barricades at her former high school. She told The Associated Press that she’s really concerned about police violence.

“We’re here to defend our rights, not to lose an eye or a hand,” Khelil said. She also said that she had noticed insulation problems and water leaks in the school building and had even seen rats on occasion. Other students confirmed that they’d seen rats too.

She was not convinced by Lecornu’s efforts to calm the situation.

“I don’t think the movement is going to lose momentum. As long as things don’t change, we’re going to see the movement grow stronger, and potentially a convergence of struggles, especially with the next presidential election coming up,” she said.

Not long after she spoke, police surrounded a nearby square. The crowd surged, and tear gas was fired.

Smoke from burning garbage nearby hung in the air at Place de la République as hundreds of high school and university students prepared to march toward Place de la Bastille, the demonstration’s focal point.

Some carried signs bearing their schools’ names; others held placards reading “More money for repression than for our education” and “Who protects us from the police?”

“We’re here, we’re demonstrating, and we won’t stop. Until October, November, December if necessary. Nothing will stop us,” said Sofia Ferdials, 18, a student at Paris 8 University.

Dounia Gergeon, a 39-year-old school librarian, said she joined the demonstration at Place de la Bastille because she shared students’ concerns and worried about a broader crisis facing young people anxious about their futures. At the middle and high school where she works, time was set aside for students to discuss their demands.

“They do not feel supported,” she said. “They feel cornered and forced to work under these conditions.”

Authorities deployed tear gas and a water cannon at the protesters, some of whom hurled projectiles at riot police.

France is not the only country to be dealing with student-related protests.

In Belgium, Willy Demeyer, the mayor of Liege, issued a ban on public gatherings until midnight on Oct. 16, citing a “real, serious and imminent risk” of further clashes and vandalism.

City police said they used water cannon and tear gas on Wednesday to hold back several hundred protesters. Authorities sent emergency text messages advising shopkeepers to close due to rioting.

Nearly 90 people were arrested and several police were injured. Police reinforcements were sent from the capital, Brussels, and from Antwerp, and more are coming. Smaller protests have been held in Mons and Charleroi.

Belgium’s Interior Minister Bernard Quintin said on social media that the “perpetrators will have to answer for their actions before the courts.”

The Belgian protests, organized through online chat groups, include demands for more teachers and smaller classes as well as complaints about education reform in Belgium, but are also likely inspired by events in France.

Student protests have spread to several Italian cities, though on a much smaller scale and over a broader set of domestic grievances. Activists have explicitly invoked the French movement with the slogan “let’s do as they do in France,” while organizing school occupations, assemblies and marches.

In Turin, students occupied several high schools over building conditions, education funding and increased military spending. In Rome, students occupied one high school and walked out of another, while students in Naples added opposition to a planned migrant detention center to their demands.

Cook reported from Brussels. Masha Macpherson in Paris and Giada Zampano in Rome contributed to this report.

Students face police officers in front of the Helene Boucher high School during a protest against under-resourced schools, in Paris, Thursday Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Students face police officers in front of the Helene Boucher high School during a protest against under-resourced schools, in Paris, Thursday Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

France's Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu makes a statement at the Hotel de Matignon in Paris, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (Dimitar Dilkoff/Pool Photo via AP)

Police officers spray students with pepper spray near Sciences Po university as they protest against under-resourced schools, in Paris, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Students face policemen near Sciences Po University as they protest against under-resourced schools, in Paris, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)