Mike Hedge, Friend of Every Farm Equipment Dealer, Retires

Our coverage on that project culminated in an industry-first 33-page special report for the February 2011 Farm Equipment, which we dubbed the “Dealership Minds” edition.

Our readership told us the report brought a sense of discovery about the full business operations and how their role supported a co-worker and vice versa. When we put our toe into the conference business in 2013, the brand name was extended the already-accepted moniker, and the debut conference in Kansas City was called the “Dealership Minds Summit.” Hedge, along with now- retired VP Mark Foster and Marketing Director Quint Campbell took the podium at the inaugural event. Hedge willingly shared several more times throughout the years, including a keynote session on the key financial metrics that every dealer employee needed to know. 

“We finished 2013 with the best year that Birkey’s had ever had, coming off a very strong market in 2011 and 2012,” Hedge recalls. “We immediately proceeded into 2014, which was probably the most difficult and challenging time the farm equipment business had seen in 30 years,” he says. 

Hedge experienced a baptism by fire at the helm as he took over for the retiring Ron Birkey.

As publicly-held and private equity models were taking off, Hedge also gave a great presentation about how Birkey’s was able to grow 600% in 12 years – without outside capital, which the operation did by diligently managing the balance sheet and the activities that drive cashflow and asset turns. On numerous occasions, CEO Ron Birkey, referred to Hedge as “the best financial mind in all of the farm equipment industry” and possessing a unique ability to connect financial principles to employees across a spectrum of disciplines and backgrounds. 

As he became known as an “evangelist for balance sheet management,” Hedge willingly shared his knowledge on numerous occasions as a keynote speaker at Farm Equipment’s Dealership Minds Summit. Even as he rides off into the sunset, you’ll see a bylined article from him in the March 2024 Farm Equipment.

The ESOP: Hedge’s Pride & Joy

It’s no surprise that Hedge – a believer in culture, staff development and leadership – would call the employee stock ownership program (ESOP) in 2021 as the proudest moment of his career.

“It helped secure the culture for the term and provide all of our employee owners the opportunity to benefit from the successes of the business in the long term,” he says.

The conversion of the ESOP, says brother, Jeff, was “where Mike really shined. We watched him take something that was all on our minds -- to figure out how to transition our company to something different. He should feel proud of putting his stamp on that he led us through that.”

Personal Observations on Hedge

In no particular order, here are some notes of my 19 years of observing Hedge:

• An executive who didn’t shy away from his faith in leadership; he wears it on his sleeve.

• Unique from many other CEOs of his era, who were mostly sales types and leaned toward what they understood best -- the revenue side.

• A personable but more reserved personality than many CEOs, he proved that sales charisma and rallying of the troops wasn’t the only way to get the job done. And he proved that “good guys can win,” even when they’re beancounters.

• He was not as quotable or free with his words as some others, including his predecessors. But when he did talk, people listened.

• Words spoken or written were every bit as important as getting the numbers right on financial statements. He once insisted on changing one word in an article I wrote that I thought to be innocuous. But he also told me the why, and educated me along the way too.

• He was willing to share. For as long as I can remember, Birkey’s took it on themselves to share in hopes of getting the industry to better understand itself and its critical success factors – for a benefit beyond their own stores. I wouldn’t say this mindset is rare, but I’ve also come across many dealers who want to keep their gems for themselves and have declined speaking or article opportunities for this reason.

• He leads with a humble and servant heart, whether the followers are employees, customers or his fellow dealership brethren.

My relationship with Birkey’s started with Ron Birkey, Mark Foster and Hedge, but what was consistent was a first-class operation that greatly valued relationships. The company made a conscious decision to trust us, support us and made it their business to educate us so we could bring more value to the industry.

Parting gift, the signed guitar

I don’t recall Birkey's ever turning down a “reasonable” request – for our own staff development, to bring us up to speed on a complex subject or giving us feedback on our latest “out of the box” ideas. They even once let us invade their store for 2 days for a strategic planning meeting in their training room, which brought context to our staffers who don’t get into dealerships as much as they’d like. In fact, we made a business-changing decision that day while we were immersed in the world that they let us in to.

It’s now Brady Foster’s turn to lead as president/CEO, and Hedge made sure the 15-year industry veteran was prepared, working closely with him for the last several years in a close transition. When asked about his first 100 days at the helm, Foster said “he was already well past that milestone,” as Hedge quietly began to transition out – but a phone call away – over the last half of 2023 to give Foster the room to maneuver and lead.

I don’t believe I’ve ever heard a bad word said about Birkey’s or its people. And I don’t think I’ve ever heard a bad word come from a Birkey’s staffer about any other dealership. That too speaks to the strong culture, and I’m confident Foster and his team will continue it.

As for Hedge, he says he’ll keep busy by playing more golf, nurturing his hobbies, continue to serve on boards of directors and will be "at the ready" in an advisory capacity should Birkey’s need it in 2024.

Those of you who follow Hedge on Facebook will get to see even more of his landscape photography from Florida and northern Michigan. 

My guess is that I’ll hear from him too before long, continuing to teach/counsel us when we use the wrong financial or accounting term in an article or daily newsletter. “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another (Proverbs 27:17),” so keep ‘em coming, Mike. And cheers to you on your retirement.