About Novae | Premier Trailer Manufacturers

Building Trailers You Can Depend On

At Novae®, we’re all about crafting top-notch trailers with a focus on quality, excellent service, and fair dealings. We deeply value our partnerships with suppliers, employees, the community, and customers.

Our commitment shines through in using high-quality materials, advanced engineering, innovative technology, skilled craftsmanship, rigorous quality control, continuous improvement, and unwavering adherence to industry standards.

In everything we do, we strive to create opportunities for better lives and a sustained legacy of positive influence.

Our Story

When our founder Steve Bermes incorporated Novae® in 1995, he had one goal: to build a company that leveraged the power of innovation to provide quality products and excellent service to its customers. In fact, the name of our company was inspired by a conversation exploring the Latin root of the word for innovation.

From our humble beginnings as a small manufacturer of novel mower sulkies, we branched out into manufacturing a reimagined modular tool storage system before seizing the opportunity to apply our innovative approach to trailer manufacturing. Since day one, we have been on a trajectory of nearly uninterrupted growth, allowing our once-fledgling little company to become the premier trailer manufacturer in North America. We like to think that the secret to our success lies in our innovative spirit and our focus on building close, mutually beneficial relationships with our dealer partners – and that’s the approach we will maintain as our story continues.

1995

Our Humble Beginnings

In 1995, Novae introduced the Proslide® Self Retracting Sulky, revolutionizing lawn care for tired professionals. Unlike other sulkies with wheels, the Proslide glided smoothly over bumps, enhancing lawn striping and effortlessly retracting when not in use.

1998

Gridiron

Novae introduced Gridiron, a modular storage system for power equipment such as backpack blowers, string trimmers, and chain saws. Users can customize and expand the system as needed for their evolving business needs.

2000

Sure-Trac

Novae acquired Sure-Trac® trailers and entered the trailer production industry. Sure-Trac swiftly gained a competitive edge in the utility trailer market through innovative designs, meticulous attention to detail, and superior business practices.

2005

Headquarters

Novae moved operations to Markle, Indiana from Sure-Trac’s original location in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The location near Interstate 69 significantly improved our access to area logistics and allowed us to construct our first facility specifically designed for building trailers, planting the seeds for future growth.

2006

Inc. 500

Since being named to Inc. Magazine’s “Inc 500,” a list of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the United States, Novae has repeatedly earned this recognition.

2008

I69 Trailer Center

Novae launched the I69 Trailer Center, the top trailer dealer in Northeast Indiana This flagship store at our Markle headquarters serves as a prototype for ideal trailer dealership operations, allowing us to try out new products and methods before they’re rolled out nationwide rollout.

2009

Growth

Amidst the Great Recession in 2009, while many trailer manufacturers faced closures and plummeting revenues between 30-50%, Novae was achieving record growth and profitability.

2010

North Manchester

As demand outstripped manufacturing capacity, Novae opened a second location in North Manchester, Indiana. Over time, this facility became specialized on building enclosed and large open Trailers for Sure-Trac.

2012

Columbia City

Just two years after opening our second plant in North Manchester, a continued demand for growth required an additional manufacturing facility, this time in Columbia City, Indiana.

2014

Markle 2 Plant

With accelerating dealer demand for Sure-Trac products, we expanded once again, across the road from our headquarters in Markle. Our spec-built Markle 2 plant was designed specifically for building dump trailers, incorporating many advanced manufacturing techniques.

2015

10 Years in a Row!

Novae earned a place on Inc. Magazine’s annual ranking of the fastest-growing businesses in the U.S. Novae joins only 12 other companies to be ranked on this list at least 10 times! We came in No. 46 in Indiana and No. 107 in U.S. Manufacturing.

2017

H&H Trailers Acquisition

Novae acquired H&H Trailers® of Clarinda, Iowa, known for its proven reliability, trusted performance, and exceptional value in a wide range of open and enclosed trailers. This strategic acquisition added a strong brand to our portfolio and expanded Novae’s manufacturing footprint westward.

2017

CAM Superline Acquisition

Novae acquired CAM Superline® in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. Recognized for building a wide range of strong, durable open trailers, CAM Superline provides a great complement to the Sure-Trac product line and added open manufacturing capacity in the eastern United States.

2019

Trailerman Trailers Acquisition

Novae acquired Trailerman® Trailers located in Louisiana, Missouri, which earned a reputation for superior customer care as well as building high-quality and competitively priced open trailers with sturdy designs and a durable finish.

2020

Integrity Trailers Acquisition

Novae acquired Integrity Trailers, now rebranded to ITI Cargo, in Carbondale, Pennsylvania. This provided much-needed manufacturing capacity for enclosed trailers located closer to dealers in the northeastern U.S. market.

2020

Markle Shipping Facility

With manufacturing volumes steadily increasing, we needed a more efficient way to stack and ship our trailers. Our purpose-built Shipping Facility in Markle, Indiana allows us to quickly load semi-trucks indoors, avoiding weather delays and inconvenience to our dealers and logistics providers.

2020

Midsota Manufacturing Acquisition

Novae acquired Midsota Manufacturing™ of Avon, MN. For 50 years, Midsota has upheld a dedication to crafting top-tier equipment for discerning customers who seek unparalleled performance.

2022

LOOK Trailers Acquisition

Novae acquired LOOK® Trailers, founded in 2010 as a top premier enclosed trailer company in North America. LOOK is known for fostering genuine partnerships with dealers and delivering products abundant in value, features, and service. This acquisition added six powerful brands to Novae’s portfolio: LOOK®, Pace American®, Cargo Express®, Formula, Compass, and Impact.

2024

Markle 3 Plant

Novae opened its purpose-built manufacturing facility in Markle, Indiana. This 150,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facility enabled us to use advanced manufacturing techniques, including robotics, to increase manufacturing capacity and capabilities, maximizing efficiency and positioning us to further accelerate our growth.

Our Leadership

There’s no better way to build bench strength than by assembling a strong team with diverse talents. Our executive leadership combines experienced trailer professionals with long tenures at Novae with more recent additions who provide the perspectives and knowledge they have gained in their previous roles at renowned manufacturing companies.

Manish Bhandari

Chief Executive Officer

Manish is responsible for guiding Novae’s strategic trajectory by continuously improving our ease of doing business, driving innovation, and ensuring we consider our dealers’ interests in every decision we make. Manish joined Novae in 2024 with extensive experience leading and improving customer-centric manufacturing companies.

Carrie Tenney

Chief Human Resources Officer

Carrie is dedicated to building the right team and fostering a culture that supports our customers. A passionate lifelong HR professional, she joined Novae in 2025 and is leading change with a focus on people strategy, employee engagement, and continuous improvement.

Oliver Reelsen

Chief Information Officer

Oliver ensures we continue to advance our technology solutions to better support operations and our dealers’ businesses, and that we have access to the information we need to make sound decisions. Oliver joined Novae in 2010 and has kept IT one step ahead of our growth ever since.

Andy Traicoff

Chief Commercial Officer

Andy drives sales and marketing activities with a focus on optimizing our industry leading portfolio of brands to build win-win trusted relationships with our dealer partners. Andy joined Novae in 2024 with decades of experience in leading commercial activities with industry-leading, dealer-focused manufacturing companies.

Justin Storie

SVP, Engineering

Justin is responsible for leading all design engineering efforts for the entire Novae product portfolio, playing a crucial role in continuously improving our product offerings. Justin joined Novae in 2012 and brings along his expansive knowledge of our products and processes.

Troy Hanni

SVP, Operations

Troy leads Novae’s far-reaching manufacturing organization throughout the United States, ensuring that we build the right product to meet our dealers’ demand, provide quality we can be proud of, and ship trailers when our dealers need them. Troy has been with Novae since 2006.

Chad Williams

SVP, Product

With a solid understanding of market demand and product innovation, Chad makes sure that we continue to develop trailers that provide lasting value for our dealers and their customers. A lifetime manufacturing professional, Chad joined Novae in 2012.

Cindy Grace

SVP, Supply Chain

Cindi oversees procurement, freight and logistics, SIOPs and fulfillment. In addition to her deep supply chain expertise, she brings valuable cross-functional experience in product marketing, business management, and business development.

Industry Affiliations

All trailers produced by Novae brands are NATM compliant, demonstrating our commitment to safety and excellence. Together with these leading industry organizations, we’re driving industry best practices and finding new and creative ways to support our dealer partners.

Building Community

Novae believes in helping to build robust and sustainable communities because we recognize the interconnectedness of our success with the well-being of the communities in which we operate.

By fostering strength and sustainability, we contribute to the prosperity of local economies, build lasting partnerships, and create a positive impact that extends beyond our business, aligning with our values of responsible corporate citizenship.

A few organizations we support:

Boys and Girls Club

Habitat for Humanity

Indiana Dream Center

Junior Achievement

Scouting America

The YMCA

Others we work with:

Blessings in a Backpack
CHAMP: Cancer Hope & Awareness Month for Pediatrics
Clarinda Economic Development
The Clarinda Foundation Inc
Community Harvest Food Bank
Energy by Ebony
Fort4Fitness
Franklin County Career and Technology Center
Huntington County Community Foundation
Huntington County United Economic Development Corp
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Local Community Schools
Local Municipalities
Never Surrender’s Black Woods Blizzard Tour
Page County Fairboard
Pike Community Care Partnership
Pike County Fair Association
Southwest Iowa Families
The Clarinda Foundation Inc
Zullinger Community Center