With a desire to provide exceptional customer service and an eye toward technological innovation, H&R Agri-Power has watched its business grow from one location in 1990 to 21 locations and more than $700 million in annual revenue.

What sets a highly successful and profitable farm equipment dealership apart? It doesn’t have to do with size or scale. It’s not about the number of locations. “It’s a manifestation of leadership and management. It’s just that simple.

While Champlain Valley Equipment doesn’t have a script for acquiring another dealership, planning early and addressing challenges as they appear has led to six smooth dealership transitions for the company.

While last month’s column focused on some of the ups and downs that afflicted the agricultural equipment industry over the past 40 years, this column will take a look at what one can expect over the next several years. But first, it should be apparent after reading the previous column, that one of the primary drivers for the demise of manufacturers during the aforementioned time period was their feckless hiring of top management that were either devoid of pertinent and relevant experience, or their background was from the financial side of the business. Concerning the latter, when that is the case, management will generally save themselves into bankruptcy rather than marketing themselves into prosperity.