More Than the Sum of its Parts

If five pounds of a good thing is really valuable, what's the value of 10 pounds?

Put another way, if you've come to appreciate doing business with a company that has used every one of its 57 years to refine and enhance the quality of its products and service, how much do you think you'll appreciate the same company when it significantly expands both its ability to service your needs and its product line?

This is a reasonable question to pose in light of Monroe Tractor's recently announced acquisition of the 61-year old, Elmira, NY-based, S. C. Hansen, Inc. "Our two companies had been discussing possible merger in recent years," said MT President Janet Felosky. "Then when Randy Hansen decided to retire, acquisition became a viable option." Hansen had served as president of the company since the retirement of his father and company founder Stewart Hansen, in 1982. "We're confident that the acquisition of S.C. Hansen will make us an even better company," said Felosky, "and we're betting our customers will agree."

In a letter to Hansen customers and employees she noted, "These are exciting times to be in the equipment business, as two of New York State's most respected equipment dealerships... join forces." She noted that the "two family-owned and operated businesses, with a combined 118 years of industry experience, will have a positive impact for all who have equipment needs."

"Bringing the synergies of Monroe Tractor and S.C. Hansen together will provide more equipment options, more extensive rental opportunities, and greater parts availability to help with all your equipment decisions. The pooling of expertise of these two companies," she continued, "will provide unsurpassed service, and support to our customers."

Likewise, in a letter to S. C. Hansen's customers, Hansen President Randell B. Hansen noted that joining of the two companies, founded only four years apart by brothers Stewart Hansen and Henry Hansen, will "provide our customers with expanded product offerings and depth of service."

He also noted that with Monroe Tractor, employees will have "...more opportunities to grow and expand their talents," and suppliers will have "...a reliable source to sell and support their products."

Hansen noted that the sale to Monroe Tractor was motivated by MT's "culture of conducting business with the utmost integrity with customers, employees and suppliers." He expressed confidence that his company was "combining with a company that has the necessary resources, ability and leadership to sustain growth into the future."

It's typical for Monroe Tractor to raise customer expectations and then set out to exceed them. With its recent acquisition announcement customers can deduce for themselves that a larger Monroe Tractor will cover more territory. It's tough to say for certain, but geographically speaking it may equal a 100 percent expansion. "Essentially," Felosky says, "this means that the rest of upstate New York will now have access to the knowledge and experience that Monroe Tractor has built its reputation on for more than half a century."

Hansen operated four branches, MT will keep all four in operation. That means that the full impact of Monroe Tractor's customer oriented operations will now be felt in the Elmira, NY hometown of Hansen as well as the regions surrounding its other branch locations, Albany, as well as Hornell and Binghamton.

The Binghamton and Elmira branches serve both construction and agricultural customers. Meanwhile the Hornell branch is dedicated to the ag side of the business and the Albany store is construction oriented.

The four branches will be re-branded as Monroe Tractor. Part of this re-branding will be the positioning of traditional MT equipment for sale and for rent at the new locations.

Monroe Tractor's expansion is a perfect example of "the total equaling more than the sum of its parts." While it's obvious to even the most causal observer that adding four branches makes MT a bigger company, the value of what's being added is in the details. Like MT, Hansen had a long history representing major equipment manufacturers in both the construction and agricultural marketplaces. Such names as Case, Case IH, Takeuchi, and NPK have been familiar to their respective customers for years.

With this acquisition MT customers will now be introduced to such names as Trail King, Vibroscreen on the construction side, and Patz, Bodco, and Unverferth on the agricultural side, all established Hansen brands.

The impact of the acquisition will be even greater for the former Hansen customers who will now benefit as MT brings such major manufacturers as Wirtgen, Vogele, Hamm, Doosan, and LeeBoy to their construction markets and Claas, Gehl, Krause, H & S, Wiese, LandPride, and Keenan to their agricultural market customers.

Felosky points to Vibroscreen, who manufactures portable screening equipment; Trail King, a manufacturer of lowboy and flatbed trailers as two important additions to its sell sheets. At the same time, however, even a big name line like Case will expand its presence since the former Hansen branches already have the Case 330 Articulated Trucks in their yards.

Felosky is quick to note that her heavy construction and agriculture equipment business is at least as much about people as it is about equipment. As part of the acquisition announcement Frank Schoenacker, MT general manager for its Rochester, Buffalo and Syracuse branches also announced that Hansen's VP of Sales, Chuck Miller, has become the general manager for the Elmira, Albany, and Binghamton branches. At the same time, Jim Munroe, MT general manager for the agriculture branches announced Brian Hansen will continue as Monroe's Binghamton branch manager. In addition, the 26 experienced former Hansen people who will become part of her current team of some 125. "We also expect to add 11 people to fill the supporting positions at the new branches," said Felosky.

In addition to the new supporting positions she also anticipates adding product support representatives at each of the "Hansen" locations. Like their counterparts at MT's current stores, the new product support people will bring the popular "MT Advantage program" to the newly acquired markets. With Chris Felosky as Product Support Manager, the MT Advantage program brings choices to such essential products as filters, batteries, bulk oil, GPS systems and a huge variety of parts to customers at very competitive prices.

Finally, while the former Hansen locations offered limited rental equipment, MT will significantly expand the rental impact with its "Monroe Rents" program. Sandy Alvarez, rental manager, notes that "Monroe Rents" is a major presence in all its traditional markets and Felosky expects that strength to be valuable at its new locations as well. The rental operation will be managed out of MT headquarters in Rochester, NY as it is for all MT branches.