Alex Swiderski, Farm Equipment Dealer Hall of Fame 2026

Joe Bloecher, who worked for Alex for 47 years before retiring in 2025, collaborated with the managers of the acquired dealerships to help ensure smooth transitions to the SEI family. Bloecher had already worked alongside Alex for nearly a decade when the acquisitions started taking place, so he completely understood the processes, standards and competitive drive that made SEI what it was.

Another roughly 40-year SEI employee, Sly Krautkramer, also remembers what it was like for the dealerships that had been acquired by SEI. He was actually working at Marathon Implement when Alex acquired that dealership in 1987.

“We weren’t nearly as aggressive as Alex was, and were starting to lose our grip on new equipment sales,” says Krautkramer, who continues serving SEI in his retirement as a board director. “When Alex took over, we got a lot more aggressive and started carrying a lot more inventory. We started serving our communities better. Before long, all kinds of new opportunities started opening up because we simply had a much better offering.”

Krautkramer worked in different roles at SEI over the years, most recently as COO. Krautkramer says he was proud to have been part of several key initiatives that helped propel SEI to what it is today. 

“One thing about Alex is that if you could convince him it was the right idea, he almost always gave you freedom to pursue it,” Krautkramer says. “On day-to-day matters, I didn’t have to bounce anything off Alex. I kidded all the time with him, ‘You know, I don’t tell you everything. But I’ll tell you when you need to know.’ He was fine with that. And because of that support, a lot of great things worked out really well.”

Case in point, significant investments in facility renovations and shop expansions started around 2010. “Once those projects were completed, we started seeing another jump in growth,” Krautkramer says.

Alex also approved Krautkramer’s idea of establishing a marketing department. “I hired a woman named Melissa Heise who had an agriculture background,” Krautkramer says. “We started seeing a tremendous amount of growth after that. Now SEI has a team of 4 marketing people.”

Pioneers in Precision Ag

Technology was also starting to have a bigger influence on the agriculture industry around 2012. After a round or two of creative sparring, Alex gave Krautkramer the thumbs-up to create a distinct “precision solutions” segment of the business.

“I’d always liked the concept of having a technology department, as opposed to expecting everyone in every location to be trying to understand and sell technology,” Krautkramer says. “It’s one of many things that continue to set SEI apart today.”

The pioneering of precision agriculture showcased Alex’s appetite for being a market leader, but also his aversion to taking unnecessary risks.

“Alex knew we had to become engaged in the technology world or we’d start slipping behind,” Krautkramer says. “We also knew that the level of technology farmers would be interested in would always vary greatly. We took things one step at a time. We started with 1 person, and auto steer was really the technology we’d started with. Before long we added a couple technicians, then another salesperson. As the business grew, we needed a service manager and a parts person. Now we were getting into precision planting technology. The business continued growing to where we are today.”

Today, the SEI Precision Solutions division employs 12 full-time people and offers auto guidance, seeding and application control, moisture sensors, precision harvesting systems, precision irrigation and telematics data management. It’s a market-leading technology offering that Krautkramer says is supported by market-leading expertise.

“Alex knew from the very beginning that it was our job as the dealer to educate farmers on what these technologies could do for them,” Krautkramer says.

Michael Butalla, a 10-year employee and current vice president of operations, will attest to that. He came onboard during SEI’s early years in precision agriculture. He immediately recognized Alex’s desire to embrace precision technology, as well as the dealership’s role in helping customers use that technology successfully.

“Our mission statement is to meet needs and exceed expectations,” Butalla says. “With technology specifically, it might be a Sunday afternoon and a customer’s GPS is on the fritz. They need to know who to get a hold of to get the problem rectified as quick as they can. That 24/7 service mentality has been critical to our success, and it really came from Alex.”

Embracing Intensity

Establishing a technology department is one of many examples of how Alex’s willingness to think outside the box and give employees the freedom to take calculated risks has paid big dividends for the dealership. Alex’s ability to lead by example has also paid off huge.

“My brothers and I were born with work ethic,” Alex says. 

Bloecher says he admired Alex’s work ethic every day of the 47 years he worked for him.

“When I first started out, I saw Alex every day,” Bloecher says. “He was always there early and stayed late. He went to auctions on Saturdays. That guy worked 7 days a week for many years. Everyone could see it.”

Seeing that kind of effort rubbed off on employees like Bloecher. Of course, Bloecher and his coworkers — especially during SEI’s earlier days — had to share that work ethic or they never would have survived the pace Alex was setting.

“I remember the days back in the 1970s and 80s,” Bloecher says. “One of my coworkers always got to the store by 5:30 a.m. If I wasn’t there, it wasn’t long and he’d be pulling into my driveway blowing the horn. We worked for Swiderski and we had work to do!”

As inspiring as Alex’s work ethic has been to so many, his raw business instincts and knack for making deals have made an even bigger impression.

“Alex is always engaged,” says Butalla. “He’s got the pulse of the dealership and what’s going on. He’s very inquisitive. He’s always probing and figuring things out. And he’s blessed with a super strong intuition, which is key to running any business.”

Butalla says one of the most valuable things Alex has taught him is to take calculated risks with confidence.

“Alex is actually not a risk taker,” Butalla points out. “He’s very calculated. But when he feels it’s time to do something, he believes you need to figure it out and do it. If something gets screwed up, we’ll talk about it later and learn from it. But when you have an opportunity, you have to run with it.”

Sometimes friends need to have a healthy argument when they disagree, right? Alex tends to think so, according to longtime employee Denny Baumann. Most of the time, that philosophy has worked out because Alex’s compassion always comes through the loudest.

Baumann worked for Alex for nearly 50 years. More than a decade after first meeting as kids when Alex was taking over the family business, he called Baumann to see if he wanted a job.

“Alex said he wanted to meet with me, but my wife had to be there too,” Baumann recalls. “He wanted her to be aware of the long hours I’d be working. I’d always been a farm boy, but was also a family man. That really made an impression on me. He has always been a sharp businessman, but also recognized that family was even more important.”

That’s the thing about Alex, Baumann says. He is tough as nails, but then surprises you with his big soft spot.

“Because he was a fighter, he loved the back-and-forth and a little confrontation,” Baumann says. “But a lot of times he would end up saying, ‘If you really think your idea is the right one, let’s just do it that way.’ He just wanted to have it out a little to make sure we were making the right decision.”

A boss’s tenacious attitude might be difficult for some employees to grow accustomed to. When it came to Alex Swiderski, being a fighter who refused to lose was a big part of his personality — but never to the point that it impacted morale. In fact, Alex’s intensity commands a sense of respect that has allowed the company to evolve and realize its fullest potential.

“You could never stay in business as long as SEI if you didn’t have a leader like Alex,” Krautkramer adds. “It’s easy to give up for a lot of reasons. But giving up simply isn’t in Alex Swiderski’s bones. He wants to win all the time. That’s his style, and it’s inspiring.”