News from around the Green industry
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Power Equipment Celebrates 60th Anniversary
Power Equipment Co., a family-owned business based in Cortland, Ill., celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2008. The company was started in 1948 by Don Soderberg and Jerry Langford. Dave Olson was hired the same year and became president in 1974. The Olson family purchased the business three years later. In 1995, Power Equipment moved to its current location in Cortland, eventually expanding to a 30,000-square-foot warehouse and 5,000 square feet of office space. The business is now run by Dave Olson’s sons Rick and David.
DuPont Acelepryn Receives Expedited California Registration
DuPont Professional Products announced that its Acelepryn insecticide is registered for use in California after an accelerated review and approval process. The California Department of Pesticide Registrations initiated its review of Acelepryn prior to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s registration of the product. The CDPR review and approval was aided by the product’s favorable toxicological profile. Acelepryn controls white grubs and surface-feeding insects such as cutworms, webworms, weevils and billbugs. It is approved for use to control key pests infesting landscape and recreational turf, as well as landscape ornamentals including trees, shrubs, foliage plants, flowers and nonbearing fruit and nut trees.
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Dixie Chopper Appoints New President/CEO
Art Evans, founder of Dixie Chopper and its only previous president, announced that Gary A. Morgan has been appointed to the position of president and chief executive officer of Magic Circle Corp., the manufacturer of Dixie Chopper lawn mowers. Evans will remain chairman of Magic Circle’s board of directors. Longtime Dixie Chopper executives Jeff Haltom and Wes Evans will be added to the board, joining John Zeiner and Gary Pershing.
Morgan most recently managed the business of New Holland Ag for North America. He had been employed by Case New Holland for 11 years in various senior management capacities. He graduated from the State University of New York-Cobleskill with a degree in accounting.
H&H Trailers Expands
H&H Trailers has officially opened its Southwest plant and distribution center in Kingman, Ariz. The company’s line of aluminum trailers will be produced at the facility. Steel trailers from its Clarinda, Iowa, operation will also be available.
Registration for Desert Turfgrass School Now Open
Registration is now open for the 2009 Desert Turfgrass School, which will be held January 5-9, 2009, at the University of Arizona Karsten Turfgrass Facility in Tucson, Ariz. The topics presented at the one-week short course will be warm and cool-season turfgrass species; overseeding and transition; desert soils; salinity, fertility and nutrition; irrigation audits; and pest and weed management. More details and registration procedures can be found at http://www.turf.arizona.edu.
Outerwears Announces New West Coast Distributor
Outerwears, Inc. announced that Eagle Distributing, Gilbert, Ariz., is its new West Coast distributor. Eagle Distributing will provide West Coast dealers with the complete line of Outerwears products.
McCloskey Names New Distributor
Holland Equipment Co. is now the official distributor for McCloskey International in Utah, southeastern Idaho and southwestern Wyoming. In business for over 55 years, Holland Equipment offers a wide range of equipment, including its own line of snowplows, cutting edges, bedding boxes, rock screens and wire slings.
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Peterson Names New Vice President
Peterson Pacific Corp. has hired Michael Kvach as vice president of sales and marketing. Kvach has extensive experience with industry associations, contractors and OEM equipment sales. Most recently, he served as executive vice president of the Asphalt Paving Association of Iowa. He will be based in Eugene, Ore.
Country Clipper Presents Awards
Country Clipper announced that Kaye Corp., Mankato, Minn., has earned the 2008 Country Clipper Distributor of the Year Award. Kaye currently has dealers in North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois. The award recognizes the company’s outstanding results in sales growth, dealer service and training and customer support.
Boettcher Supply, Inc. received the 2008 Country Clipper Sales & Marketing Achievement Award. Boettcher currently has dealers in Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri and Colorado. The award was given for the company’s outstanding efforts in sales and marketing.
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Venture Presents Dealer Awards
Venture Products, Inc. hosted its annual national sales meeting in Sandusky, Ohio. Dealers from across the United States and abroad gathered for two days of idea-sharing, education and family fun.
President Dallas Steiner and National Sales Manager Kevin Holland presented the annual dealer awards. Top Sales Awards went to Brace Power Equipment, Carrollton, Ohio; and Baker Vehicle Systems, Macedonia, Ohio. The Ventrac Dealer Growth Award was given to TNT Landscaping, LLC, Williamsburg, Iowa, and the New Dealer Growth Award was given to Kaz Equipment, South Windsor, Conn. This year’s Marvin Steiner Visionary Award winner was Dan Haupt, O’Neil’s Farm Equipment, Binbrook, Ont., Canada.
Bobcat Names Giveaway Winners
Bobcat Co. has awarded $50,000 contractor’s packages to Brian Beaumont, Beaumont Landscaping, Flanders, N.J., and Roger Coyle, Diamondback Pool Excavation, Chandler, Ariz., in the Great Road Tour Giveaway. The program was part of the Bobcat 50 Years Unleashed North American Road Tour, a traveling museum that visited 23 Bobcat dealers in the United States and Canada. During the tour, 10 attendees were randomly selected at each stop as finalists for the giveaway, and the winners were randomly selected from that group of 230.
PACE Expands Wright Mower Distribution
PACE, Inc. has expanded to serve the West from a newly purchased facility in Sacramento, Calif. PACE West, Inc. officially assumed the Wright power equipment distributorship. PACE now serves Wright dealers in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana, as well as Florida, Hawaii and portions of eight Midwestern states.
Lott Joins Tycrop
Robin Lott has joined Tycrop as factory sales representative for turf products. Lott has worked in sales for 20 years, most recently spending 13 years building a dealer network in western Canada.
Toro Hosts Symposium, Announces Contest Winner
The irrigation division of Toro Co. brought together landscape professionals and industry experts at its Success Without Excess III WaterSmart Symposium, available online at www.torowatersmart.com. Toro Irrigation invited Stephanie Tanner, WaterSense products lead, Environmental Protection Agency; Mary Ann Dickinson, executive director, Alliance for Water Efficiency; and Julian Gray, CEO, Smart Approved WaterMark, to share their expertise.
Toro announced that its new stand-on mower for the 2009 model year has been named the Toro GrandStand, a title chosen from more than 4,200 entries in Toro’s “Name It & Claim It!” competition. The winning entry was submitted by D. Gilbert, a Pennsylvania landscape contractor. He will be awarded one of the first stand-on machines to roll off Toro’s production line.
Signature Acquires Nelson Turf
Signature Control Systems, Inc. has acquired L.R. Nelson Corp.’s turf division, based in Peoria, Ill. Roberto Izaguirre, previously Nelson Turf’s president, has been named executive vice president of Signature’s new turf division. Signature will have a combined 100,000 square feet of manufacturing and operations space in Irvine, Calif., and Peoria.
Wiedenmann Holds Dealer Appreciation Meeting
Wiedenmann North America held its annual dealer appreciation meeting in Orlando, Fla. Juergen and Horst Wiedenmann joined the North American sales team, which is headed by Will Wolverton, for award presentations. The winners are Al Hicks, Georgia Turf & Tractor, Salesman of the Year; Storr Tractor, East Coast Dealer of the Year; Commercial Turf & Tractor, Midwest Dealer of the Year; and Golf Ventures West, West Coast Dealer of the Year.
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Bandit Hosts 2008 Dealer Meeting
Bandit Industries, Inc. hosted dealers from 22 countries at its 2008 Dealer Meeting, a week of sales and service seminars, product demonstrations and plant tours with a focus on biomass and wood energy. The meeting is held every three years at the Remus, Mich., corporate headquarters.
Central Michigan University’s Steve Lawrence joined the event as keynote speaker, discussing the savings and economies made possible by the university’s use of wood waste for its energy needs. Other highlights included a “What Works For You” session and Demo Day.
Bayer Announces Contest Winners
Three public green spaces and the industry professionals who nominated them have won the first Bayer Environmental Science GreenSpace Renovation Contest. Bayer will donate $5,000 and the appropriate lawn care products needed to renovate each space, and the nominator will donate the time and staff needed to complete the renovation.
The winners are East Lyme Town Hall, East Lyme, Conn., nominated by Tom Kalal, Jordan Brook Lawn Care, Waterford, Conn.; Glazier-Gates Park, Bradenton, Fla., nominated by Tammy Kovar, Biological Tree Services, Sarasota, Fla.; and Indianapolis City Parks, nominated by Bob Andrews, The Greenskeeper, Inc., Carmel, Ind.
Etholm Addresses IUV Conference
Petter M. Etholm, president and chief executive officer of Thomas Equipment, Inc., addressed the Industrial Utility Vehicle Technology Conference about Thomas’ niche marketing strategy and focus on basics as it expands. Brian Barton, general manager and vice president of operations at Thomas, participated in discussions following Etholm’s remarks.
Genie Breaks Ground at Changzhou Facility
Genie Industries broke ground at its new manufacturing facility in Changzhou, China. Production is planned to begin in mid-2009. The facility will manufacture Genie equipment for the first time in the local Asian market.
Syngenta Announces Alliance With John Deere Landscapes
Syngenta Professional Products announced both distributor and agency agreements with John Deere Landscapes. The agreements will allow Syngenta to increase the availability of its products and services in the lawn care and golf markets. Established in 2001, John Deere Landscapes currently operates more than 630 branches in the United States.
Strata Names New Regional Sales Manager
Strata Systems, Inc. named Joe Nagy regional sales manager for the company’s north-central territory. Nagy has over 25 years of civil engineering and technical sales experience. Previously, he served as an erosion control specialist in the earth stabilization group of Contech Construction Products. Nagy earned a degree in civil engineering from Fairmont State College.
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