Dubuque, Iowa — McCoy Group, Inc. a family-owned company based in Dubuque, is expanding its business base with the purchase of seven John Deere Construction and Forestry stores serving the Upper Peninsula, northern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin.

The acquisitions from Nortrax Inc. takes effect immediately and includes a facility in Escanaba.

The company, which will do business as McCoy Construction & Forestry, plans to retain all of the current 131 Nortrax employees.

The McCoy Group’s new construction and forestry division joins a growing organization that is already home to seven subsidiaries, including Midwest-based Freightliner dealerships Truck Country and Stoops, and transportation-focused companies Foodliner, Quest Liner and McCoy NationaLease.

“The acquisition and subsequent formation of McCoy Construction & Forestry has provided our organization with an opportunity to diversify our business into an industry that is similar in many ways,” said Greg McCoy, president and CEO of McCoy Group.

“We are proud and excited to be partnering with John Deere, whose brand is one of the strongest in the world for delivering world-class products and services to its customers. It’s also an organization that shares the same McCoy Group values of integrity, honesty, quality, innovation and, above all, commitment to the customer,” McCoy said.