Rental Center -- Jason Rents

Jason Rents: Where everyone knows your name. Sara Jackson and Bill Campell carry on the culture where customers are more than customers; they are family-like friends. 

The staff at Jason Rents, left to right: Gabriel Evangelista, front counter; Moises Oxi, mechanic; Alex Gauvlin, front counter and deliveries; Sara Jackson, store manager and Bill Campbell, co-owner. Not present: Nico Cubillos, marketing/IT; Sue Campbell, bookkeeping; and David Lopez, co-owner.

Sara Jackson, store manager, poses with her poster that welcomes customers to come on in and keep renting while she recovers from a Jet Ski accident.

Jason Rents can deliver any of its under-7,500-pound pieces of equipment without the need for a CDL.

Nearly 50 years ago, Jason Buckles had the vision of opening a tool and equipment rental business in the Jupiter, Florida, area. Back then, Jupiter was a much smaller community, yet to be discovered by the rich and famous as a beautiful wintering/retirement location on the east Florida coast.
 “Jason started out of his Ford Ranger and a small storage unit and then he moved into a little bigger facility before he purchased a bowling alley that he turned into Jason Rents. He was at that location for more than 25 years. Then David Lopez and I purchased the business and we moved to the present facility that we purchased in October of 2022,” says Bill Campbell, semi-retired owner of Jason Rents. 

It was a good move; they bought the present building just as Jupiter was coming into its own as an elite vacation and retirement destination. 

“With the restrictions now on businesses and buildings in the Jupiter area, it’s impossible to find a location for this type of business,” Campbell says.

Campbell and Lopez spent more than 40 years in the equipment business at the same time that Buckles built up Jason Rents. Looking to get out of owning and managing equipment dealerships, the business partners approached Buckles to buy Jason Rents and that was completed in 2021. Campbell’s daughter, Sara Jackson, joined the business in late 2022 as manager.
Jason Rents’ customer base looks more like an extended family than a customer list. Many of its customers are second and even third generation of Jupiter residents and businesses who have relied on Jason Rents for equipment ranging from tracked excavators to concrete saws to sod cutters.

“Jason established that culture and we carried on with it,” says Jackson. “With Jason, customers would come in and rent equipment and then spend the next half hour chatting with Jason. Jason and his staff developed a very loyal customer base. We continue that tradition. We cater to anybody that comes in. It’s a lot of contractors but it’s also DIYers and homeowners who want to do something on their own,” says Jackson.

Limited competition
Because the area is very developed, Jason Rents’ customer base extends about 15 miles, primarily covering Jupiter Island. A local big-box store is the only other option for equipment rental. “We often refer customers there and they often refer people to us when they don’t have the expertise or equipment to help them,” says Jackson.

One example: a customer needed a way to work on a chandelier in a multi-story foyer with a staircase in a luxury home. “The contractor came in and started discussing his needs with Gabriel Evangelista, our shop manager, and Bill about what they needed and they began sketching what they were trying to accomplish,” Jackson says.

“We had two issues,” Campbell says, “First, we had to get the scaffold or lift in place to get the job done safely and second, we had to protect the floors. We came up with a solution and accomplished both and had a very happy customer.”

In addition to Evangelista and Jackson, Jason Rents employs Alex Gauvlin who also works the front counter and does deliveries, Nico Cubillas, who handles marketing and IT, and Moises Oxi, who handles the mechanical work as well as works the front counter. Campbell is semi-retired and his wife, Sue, works part-time with bookkeeping tasks.

Upward growth
Since purchasing Jason Rents, Campbell says the equipment fleet has grown to about $1.5 million in value and revenues have increased nearly 20 percent in that time. “We average about 75 percent utilization, which is a plus because our rental yard is small. We have rather even demand, but it increases in the March through May timeframe as seasonal residents go back home and have repairs and improvements lined up to be completed while they are gone,” says Campbell. 

Most tool and equipment rentals are by the day, with some week to week. They offer weekend rates, charging a day rate for equipment picked up after 3 p.m. on Friday and returned by Monday morning.

“Our fleet is mainly tracked skid steers, excavators, floor grinders, chipping hammers and pressure washers to even a metal detector. We rent concrete and mortar mixers. Floor grinders are big as well as aerial lifts and trailers,” says Jackson.

Recently, Jason Rents added larger equipment to its fleet including larger skid steers, mini skid steers, dumpers and excavators. They are all under 7,500 pounds, so a CDL license isn’t required for delivery. “We’d rather rent concrete breakers than excavators; the payback is much faster on those units,” Campbell says. Customers who want to rent larger equipment can easily find that with the national rental chains, he adds.

Jason Rents does not carry an extensive line of attachments. “We don’t get much demand for them and we don’t have a lot of yard space for storing them,” says Campbell. “We do have tree booms and grapples and they are frequently rented. We may get a request for an auger about once every three months, but not enough to warrant buying one.”

Upfront pricing
Jason Rents has a very straightforward quoting process. “We give the out-the-door pricing so it’s clear for them for bidding their jobs – they know exactly how much things will be. We get many quote calls and emails when our customer family is out there bidding jobs,” says Jackson. 

While most equipment is engine-powered, Jackson and Campbell are keeping their eyes on the Li-ion-powered units. “We have some Hilti battery-powered concrete cut-off saws and they are working out well,” says Jackson. 

“Our customers were at first a little leery of the battery-powered concrete saws, but it turns out they have more torque than the gas-powered units. Customers are requesting them over the gas-powered units, especially for inside jobs,” says Campbell.

Future challenges
Some near-term challenges face the staff at Jason Rents. Jackson suffered a serious pelvic injury in a Jet Ski accident in March and is working hard to recover from it. She has been limited in her time to work in the store, so her father and staff have stepped up to cover for her.

“We even had some customers go to her house and build her a ramp so she could get into and out of her home,” Campbell says. “No one asked them, they just showed up and built it.”

“Most of our customers know us by our first names and we know them by theirs,” says Evangelistas. “I have worked here for 14 years and some of our customers came in with their fathers when they were children and continue to rent from us. This is like Cheers, where everyone knows your name,” he says.

Jackson agrees. “My 10-year-old son and I joke we can’t go anywhere around here without someone recognizing us. We’ve had many customers actually bring breakfasts and lunches in for us.”

 Another recent near-term challenge that could have been disastrous was a dumpster fire outside of their building. “Someone dumped something flammable in our dumpster after hours and it caught fire,” says Jackson. “It was too close to the building and it caught the building on fire. Luckily, the fire department responded immediately and the building’s interior only suffered some smoke damage.”

“We already had the fans and ozone generators so we were able to get the counter area cleaned up and were able to open on Monday,” says Campbell.

Expansion-minded
Campbell says they are leveraging geofence marketing to send ads to people shopping or working in certain local areas. “It’s not expensive and gets our name in front of people we don’t know and who also don’t know us. We are experimenting with it. We don’t want to spend too much on it, but if it works, we will do more of it,” Campbell says.

Jason Rents would like to expand but can’t accomplish that in its present location. 

“When we’ve inquired about finding a facility where we could move to in the area, planners say we should take a drive west on I-95 and they will call when we are far enough away,” Campbell says. 

With that, they are exploring the possibility of a satellite location in Indiantown, which is about 30 miles northwest of Jupiter. “We are delivering more out that way now and it makes sense to establish a hub out there. We can start with something temporary and if it goes, we can continue to build our presence there,” Campbell says.

This article origianlly appeared in the July-August 2025 issue of Pro Contractor Rentals magazine, ©Urbain Communications LLC, All rights reserved.

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