When Gorden and Loretta Sonnenberg started Cobra in 1975, it was just the two of them running the commercial plumbing and gas fitting company in small-town Wetaskiwin, Alberta. But today their four boys, son-in-law, and six grandsons are all involved and the business has expanded into excavation, concrete, and asphalt. According to Martin Sonnenberg “The brothers joined forces in the late 90s and it became a full-fledged family business when the nephews got on board about 10 years ago.”

Much like their family-owned and operated business, the Sonnenbergs like to keep their equipment in the family too. When Finning sales rep Shawn Lipka first called on them four years ago, he found out just how loyal they were. “Martin told me that unless I had a Komatsu or a crusher for sale, they weren’t interested. Luckily we had a crusher and I sold it to them.

As luck would have it, they were in the market for a new excavator last summer so Shawn dropped off a new Next Gen Cat® 310 excavator for them to try. “We’ve been in the market for that size machine for almost five years,” said Martin. “Once we started using it, we realized it’s the perfect size machine for sewer and water residential changeouts and smaller municipality work. It was ideal for what we needed the machine to do, so handy and easy to move where we needed it.” That sealed the deal and Cobra suddenly had a new Next Generation excavator in their fleet. It was their first Cat and the first Next Gen excavator sold in Alberta.

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