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.