As part of the annual member Fly-in coordinated by the North American Equipment Dealers Assn. (NAEDA), representatives of NAEDA’s Outdoor Power Equipment Council (OPE) participated in a 2-day visit to 29 legislators and key staff April 8-9 in Washington, D.C. 

In speaking to Rural Lifestyle Dealer in Washington prior to the first day of legislator meetings, Kim Rominger, NAEDA CEO offered a summary of the primary goals and objectives.

“This year at the D.C. Fly-in, NAEDA members and leadership were focused on key committees that affect our industry,” said Rominger. “Predominantly, we’re making sure the legislators and key staff in Washington understand what the issues are — mostly in rural America — for ag equipment dealers, including outdoor power equipment dealers.” Addressing tariffs, he said it’s important to reinforce what the impact is on member businesses when some of the machinery and parts they get are all imported. In addition to the issue of tariffs, the members will be addressing the Farm Bill, taxes, workforce development and  Right to Repair. 

Among the group of 30 dealer members representing over 100 business locations from 18 states were NAEDA OPE Dealer Council Chair Jim Herbert, CFO of Bud Herbert Motors in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was joined by Jason Huber, council vice chairman, from Central Equipment in Lexington, Ky. and council member Stacey English, Louisville and Shelbyville Outdoor Turf Products in Lexington, Ky., among other rural lifestyle equipment members advocating for policies in the interest of OPE dealers around the country. 

Herbert explained that the OPE Dealer Council was established to serve as a “united voice” for dealerships in the industry, and noted the growing interest of committee members in collaboration, information exchanges and taking collective action. Working together, he added, dealers can enhance their individual businesses and the OPE industry as a whole, with the goal of providing better products and services to their customers.

For English, for whom this was her first DC Fly-in, the NAEDA Fly-in represented an important opportunity to meet with legislative leaders and elected representatives in Congress to reinforce the interests of rural farmers, commercial cutters and homeowners.

“We met with legislators and key industry-focused committee members and staff to champion our interests,” she said. “For example, Section 179 is hugely important for our landscapers as it deals with accelerated depreciation of equipment. Taxes were another key issue. The folks we met with were interested, inquisitive and are respectful of all of our businesses.” She added that the ag-focused members in the group were focused on the H2A worker program and dealers like hers and other rural equipment companies are particularly interested in H2B which more directly impacts landscapers. There are some concerns with tree care companies and their challenges with staffing which can be ironed out, she says. 

As her market in the Louisville area is mostly landscape, the Shelbyville market is mainly homeowners. In speaking to the outlook for 2025, she said the cold weather and rain make it hard to predict how the spring season will play out on the consumer side, but landscapers had a good winter with a large amount of snow, so she sees that they are investing in upgrading equipment and making sure they have what they need to take care of their clients. 

Related Content:

• Dealer Legislative Priorities: Farm Bill, Taxes, Techs, Right to Repair
• NAEDA Establishes National OPE Dealer Council