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2011 Dealership of the Year: 

Industry’s Best Dealerships Honored in 7th Annual Awards Program

JayDee AgTech and Janson Equipment earned the industry’s top honors as Farm Equipment’s 2011 Dealerships of the Year.

Farm Equipment Staff Report

Dealership of the Year Judging Panel

In total, 96 U.S. and Canadian dealerships were nominated this year by their farm customers, equipment suppliers , Dealership of the Year “Alumni” and their own employees..

Joining the top dealers this year are four additional farm equipment retailers that have been selected as the “Best-in-Class Dealerships” for 2011. Honors in the over $50 million in annual revenue category go to Johnson Tractor Inc. of Janesville, Wis., and BTI (Bucklin Tractor & Implement Co.) of Greensburg, Kan.

Chabot of Elie, Manitoba, and Heritage Agriculture of Arkansas, Carlisle, Ark., received the same honors in the under $50 million in annual revenue category.

Together, these six dealers amassed $495 million in total revenue, which amounted to nearly $880,000 per employee. They also combined for an average parts and service absorption rate of 84.2%.

Individual & Industry

What sets the top farm equipment dealerships apart from other outstanding dealerships are performance factors that are often difficult to quantify, like employee training and morale, succession planning and customer care.

But it’s the numbers provide the quantifiable aspect of the Dealership of the Year program.

In JayDee AgTech’s case, revenue per employee was nearly $1.2 million in 2010. Janson Equipment posted slightly over $730,000 of revenue per employee.

Two other numbers also stand out for Farm Equipment’s 2011 Dealerships of the Year. These included return on assets/parts and service (aftermarket) absorption.

As shown in the accompanying bar charts, the two top dealerships for 2011 easily surpassed industry averages and/or benchmarks.*

The SouthWestern Assn. (SWA) defines return on assets as “Net income before taxes/average assets.” The North American benchmark for ROA in 2009 was 6%.

JayDee AgTech reported a 24.3% ROA and Janson Equipment posted a 27% ROA for the year.

Aftermarket Absorption is defined as “Parts & Service gross margins/total expenses.” The North American benchmark for absorption for farm equipment dealers is 80%-plus and the North American average in 2009 was 64.6%.

JayDee AgTech’s absorption rate came in at 118.2% for 2010 and Janson Equipment demonstrated a 93.9% absorption rate for the year.

An Annual Tradition

In 2005, Farm Equipment editors established the Dealership of the Year program “to elevate farm equipment dealerships that are leading the industry in best practices, operations management and customer care.”

This year’s award recipients will join 33 past winners in the “Dealership of the Year Alumni Group,” which are shown on this page and the next.

*The source of the industry averages is the “2009 Cost of Doing Business Study,” which presents composite income statements and balance sheets in addition to averages for key financial performance ratios.

Data for the study is compiled and analyzed by the SWA Financial Consulting, P.C. annually. Copies of the study are available from the SouthWestern Assn. Go to www.swafinancialconsult.com to learn more.

“Dealership of the Year Alumni Group” 

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