Ben Catoe – Owner
Third-generation owner Ben Catoe took over for his father Mark in 2021, inheriting a thriving business at a very strange time in our country’s history. Customers old and new have been working with Ben since he was just a kid, and his experience and love for his customers is what makes him a great steward to bring freshness and growth to the dealership. Ben opened the doors in 2025 with a freshly redesigned showroom, truly making the store his own and beginning a new chapter with the business founded by his grandfather Bernard Catoe in 1983. Ben is a proud Gamecock and graduated from The University of South Carolina with a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Rhetoric with a minor in Linguistics. In his spare time, you can find our fearless leader at home in his studio or spending time with his step-children.
Matt Steadman – General Manager
At any given time, Matt is the hardest working employee on site. Promoted to General Manager at just 24 years old, Matt is a dedicated and talented employee. He has spent time working in the shop as a certified lawn mower technician, managing the service center, and now oversees both the shop and storefront as Ben’s right-hand man and General Manager. Matt is our only employee who was not related to Mr. Bernard Catoe, who had the privilege of being trained by the man who started the business. In his free time, you can find Matt anywhere but at work. He enjoys every second of his well earned time off.
Andrew Catoe – Parts Manager
Like Ben, Andrew has spent a large part of his life growing and learning in the dealership. Our second longest tenured employee, Andrew may not be known for a bright smile at 8am, but he absolutely knows what weird part you’re trying to describe. He remembers that one year they did that one thing with the weird bolt and all… consider him our encyclopedia. He is the backbone of our store, making sure we always have plenty of inventory on hand to meet our customers’ needs and working directly with our distributors to special order any part we don’t keep in stock. His spare time is spent playing video games, which is why he also heads IT!
Ellis McElveen – 4 Shop Manager
Ellis joined our team as a shop assistant and quickly showed a talent and work ethic that landed him in an apprenticeship that he, unsurprisingly, flew right through as well. He now manages the repair shop and keeps things running smoothly in the back to keep our repair times low and our customers happy! Most days you can find his faithful companion, Gus, at his side playing fetch with whatever stick he can convince someone to throw for him!
Austen Catts – Two-Stroke Mechanic
Austen started behind our parts counter before spending over a year training under Ben and our former two-stroke mechanic Rick Kitchings on two-stroke repairs. He completed his Stihl SIlver certification with top marks in his class and looks forward to returning for his Gold certification course. Austen officially took over as our two-stroke mechanic in December of 2024, when Rick retired after 25 years with the company. You can almost always find Austen with his headphones on listening to music which he also writes and produces for himself on the weekends.
Liz Cockburn – Office Manager and Service Writer
Liz has filled multiple roles in the time since she started from helping in the parts department, managing customer accounts and billing, working behind the service counter, and most recently taking over the task of refinishing our showroom floors! She has known Ben from the time they were in middle school, and is the first female member of the Catoe’s staff. You can currently find her running the service counter, taking in repairs and answering the phone to give quotes and status updates from the shop. When she isn’t at work you can find her at home with Ben and her kids, most likely surrounded by craft supplies or tools for her latest home-improvement project.
Dakota Workman – Parts
Dakota came to us with a service background from Take5, but quickly found his place behind the parts counter with Andrew. He spent the first 90 days of his employment singlehandedly re-labeling and organising the parts department, only to do it all over again with Andrew six months later when the store was redesigned! He always has a smile on his face and a positive attitude, happy to help with any request you may have. If he doesn’t know the answer, you can count on him to find it!
Robin Stiltjes – Sales
Robin started as part time help during Hurricane Helene and has since found a full-time place in the Catoe’s sales department. She handles all of customer financing along with Ben and is quickly learning her way around our diverse inventory of products under the direction of Matt. There has yet to be a customer that has left without a smile on their face after interacting with her. If you’ve spoken to her once, you can almost guarantee Robin remembers you by name and will greet you as soon as you come through the door. Her bright attitude is matched only by her hair, which is usually found to be just about every color of the rainbow. The true light of her life is her daughter Ruby, with whom she can be found baking or jumping on the trampoline with any time outside of work.
James O’shea – General Mechanic