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14 CapitalPress.com July 1, 2016 Arizona equipment dealer buys Christiansen Implement By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press Stotz Equipment of Avon- dale, Ariz., has purchased Christiansen Implement, a long-time southern Idaho equipment company with a strong business in new and used ag equipment. Stotz made the announce- ment publicly on June 22, af- ter having informed employ- ees of both companies at the irst of the month. Stotz CEO and President Tom Rosztoczy said the trans- action is scheduled to close on Aug. 1. Stotz, a full-service John Deere dealership, was found- ed in 1947 by Rosztoczy’s grandfather and remains a family business. Christiansen is also a fam- ily-owned John Deere dealer- ship, making it a natural it in Stotz’s growing business, he said. Christiansen’s three stores, in American Falls, Burley and Twin Falls, are also a good it as the northern neighbors of Stotz’s operations in Tremon- ton, Utah, and Preston, Idaho, he said. Growing by acquiring a neighbor in your trade area is attractive, and the Snake Riv- er Plain has signiicant poten- tial, he said. “It has a much better over- all farming area than we have in any of our other stores,” he said. Stotz’s acquisition of Christiansen will bring its numbers to 25 stores across eight Western states, he said. While Rosztoczy declined to provide details of the pur- chase or company sales, he said Stotz employs 450 peo- ple and Christiansen employs 75. Both companies have an institutional knowledge and experience that will beneit the operation, he said. “I think there will be good synergies that will go both ways,” he said. For example, Christian- sen’s American Falls store has a lot of combine sales and does a great job of combine service and support, whereas combines are a small part of the business at Stotz’s Preston store. On the lip side, Stotz’s Tremonton store is strong in forage harvesters, whereas the Burley and Twin Falls stores aren’t, he said. Christiansen’s owners have chosen not to stay on with Stotz in a leadership position, but employee lay- offs are not in the plan and it should be a seamless transi- tion, he said. He added that he hopes Christiansen’s employees will see the beneits of being asso- ciated with a family business that values community and a work-life balance and treats people like people, as well as providing additional training, experience and career oppor- tunities that a larger organiza- tion can offer. An open house at each location and various other events during harvest and the holiday season will be held at each new location in the near future to help introduce Stotz to the communities and to learn more about the territory and customers. Southern Idaho agribusiness success has deep roots By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press Southern Idaho’s agribusiness communi- ty has been blessed with some big splashes in the last few years, with na- tional brands such as Chobani and Cliff Bar choosing to call the Magic Valley home and long-time residents such as Glanbia and Mc- Cain investing in sizable expansions. But feed and food pro- duction has always been a mainstay in the region, dating back to the Car- ey Act — which brought irrigation and attracted farmers to transform the high desert into rich agri- cultural land, said Travis Rothweiler, Twin Falls city manager. “Today, that ag land reigns supreme, and val- ue-added agriculture is still the cornerstone of our economy. Agricul- ture is always going to be that cornerstone,” he said. Idaho’s ag production ranks in the top three na- tionwide in several com- modities, and Southern Idaho ranks in the top five Carol yan Dumas/Capital Press Jeff Hough, right, executive director of Southern Idaho Economic Development Organization, talks with Twin Falls City Manager Travis Rothweiler at Twin Falls City Hall on June 17. in the state of more than a dozen, he said. “It really is America’s most diverse food basket. When you step back and look at everything being produced, Southern Ida- ho really is feeding the John Deere Dealers See one of these dealers for a demonstration Belkorp Ag, LLC Modesto, CA Camp Equipment, LLC Burns, OR Ontario, OR Weiser, ID Campbell Tractor & Implement Fruitland, ID Homedale, ID Nampa, ID Wendell, ID Evergreen Implement, Inc. Coulee City, WA Moses Lake, WA Othello, WA Ritzville, WA Kern Machinery, Inc. Bakerfield, CA Buttonwillow, CA Delano, CA Papé Machinery Bonners Ferry, ID Four Lakes, WA Madras, OR Merrill, OR Moscow, ID Ponderay, ID Tangent, OR Tekoa, WA Walla Walla, WA Washington Tractor, Incorporated Chehalis, WA Ellensburg, WA Lynden, WA Quincy, WA 27-4/#4N world,” he said. The region’s agribusi- ness footprint has been building over time and has really blossomed within the last three years, said Jeff Hough, executive director of the Southern Idaho Eco- nomic Development Organization. The region sold more than $7 billion in ag-related goods and services in 2015 and contributes significant- ly to Idaho ranking in the top third of U.S. states for food processing. In 2015, Southern Ida- ho’s agribusiness prowess won a federal designation as a food manufacturing hub from the U.S. De- partment of Commerce, putting it in the global and national spotlight, he said. New companies are drawn to the area, expand- ing opportunity, but there is a long list of agribusinesses that have been in the region for decades, Rothweiler said. “Every single one is critical to the economy of southern Idaho,” he said. One of the things that is really blooming is food sci- ence and research and de- velopment. Southern Idaho is home to seven world- class food science facili- ties, he said. The region is building a food research and devel- opment and science cluster. It’s really starting to ex- pand to complete the entire chain from field to table, he said. With growth comes jobs, infrastructure de- velopment and additional economic activity, Hough said. More than one-third of the region’s jobs are direct- ly or indirectly created by agriculture, with 15,000 jobs directly related to farming or processing. Food manufacturers represent 67 percent of the region’s employers, he said. In addition to a plenti- ful supply of raw products, a high quality workforce, customized worker training programs at the College of Southern Idaho and com- petitive tax and utilities structures all play a part in the growth, Rothweiler said. “It’s a pro-business cli- mate state … everybody tries to make those good fits feel welcome,” Hough said. It’s really a team ap- proach, with the state, cit- ies and economic devel- opment organizations all working together to lend whatever assistance they can to companies and to each other, Rothweiler said. “Economic develop- ment is a team sport. Suc- cess, collectively, is great- er than the success we can create individually,” he said. Growth in any area of the Magic Valley is going to support all of the Magic Valley, he said. “We’re going to contin- ue to explore opportunities to thoughtfully grow the economy and the communi- ty,” he said.
