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 Aug. 27, 2007 Farm Equipment reports: In continuation of the industry recognition program first started in 2005, Farm Equipment magazine has announced the 2007 Dealerships of the Year. The award program was birthed by Farm Equipment editors "to elevate farm equipment dealerships who are leading the industry in best practices, operations management and customer care." The firms recognized in the 2007 Dealership of the Year Program include: *Large, Multi-Store Operation: Birkey's Farm Store, Rantoul, Ill. *Small-Store Operation: Scott Supply Co., Mitchell, S.D. *Specialty Dealership: Record Harvest, Nevada, Mo. The judges also identified four dealerships for a secondary, Best-in-Class recognition. 2007 recipients include Hendershot Equipment, Stephenville, Texas; Kunau Implement, DeWitt, Iowa; Coastal Tractor, Salinas, Calif.; and Fairbanks International, Hastings, Neb. To make the selections in the annual program, Farm Equipment recruited the help of a diverse and independent judging panel. This year's group consisted of Dr. W. David Downey, Center for Agricultural Business, Purdue Univ., David Kahler, former CEO of the Ohio-Michigan Dealers Assn., and David Parker, Agri-Business Group. In total, the 2007 program drew a total of 43 nominations - with nominations stemming from all corners of the farm equipment industry - from manufacturers, dealers and even farmers themselves. This year, nominations were also provided by past recipients of the awards, or Dealership of the Year "Alumni." And 2007 will be remembered as an impressive class of dealerships. Not only did the judging panel expand its selections by creating a third category for what they identified as a new and emerging business model (Record Harvest is the recipient of the first-ever award in the "Specialty: Precision Farming" category), but the operating statistics of the 2007 class was unrivaled. This year's class generated $274 million in revenue with an average sales per employee of $430,253. The performance ratios also indicated that the 2007 dealerships are indeed operations to benchmark against. Consider these two statistics and the industry averages from the 2005 Cost of Doing Business Study compiled by the Southwestern Assn. Dealers of the Year registered an average absorption rate of 78% (industry average: 60.89%) and a nearly 8% return on assets (industry average: 4.70%). |
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