7-21 IAN Agri Service
How many of us show up 40 or more hours a week and spend our life “workin’ for the man? Gotta tell you a story about an agricultural business that just changed all the rules. I’m David Sparks and I’ll be right back with that story. Cleve Buttars owns one of the biggest farm equipment dealerships in North America. It’s called Agri-Service and for 20 years it has sold and serviced the company’s trademark-red Massey Ferguson tractors to farmers and ranchers in Idaho, Utah and Oregon. Furthermore, and even in this economy, the Agri-Service grew…imagine that. We all know that the agricultural economy has waxed and waned over the years and we are now mired in the deepest recession in anyone’s memory. Well, Cleve recently decided to reward his 150 employees with a letter saying that they now own a piece of the company. Agri-Service is now a company with an Employee Stock Ownership Plan and one of its employees, 8-year parts person Gary Rasmussen says that it changes the way he thinks about his company: “For the employees, it’s very much boosted the morale. I see it in mechanics and everyone concerned. They’re not saying we don’t have to pay for it, they’re saying Gee, maybe I can save a little money here so I’ll make a little more this year.”
