For the first time in its history, the KIOTI dealer council has added an important mid-year meeting to help move dealer issues through the system faster, according to a company news release.

The host of this initial mid-year event was Wichita Tractor Co., which has two locations in Wichita and Hutchinson, Kan.

According to Mike Greene, vice president and chief operating officer, “We understand the dealer council philosophy and work very hard to develop an informative, smooth-running and productive dealer council. The council is our firm commitment to both the dealer network and end users we both serve and is paramount in our thinking as we grow this exciting brand.”

Don McCullough, owner of Wichita Tractor and current council chairman, hosted the meeting portion of the event at the Marriott Courtyard in Wichita's Old Town. 

“The meeting went extremely well and was very productive. All of the other council members own and/or operate dealerships across North America and many of them have had prior dealer council experience with other OEMs," McCullough says. "So this council runs pretty smoothly. They understand that the purpose of the council is to help the company help us, enabling all of us to do a better job for our customers.”
 
The meeting focused on market and economic concerns, parts and service support, financing, warranty, inventory controls at both levels, delivery and shipping, training and other support activities, new products and the current product lineup.

"The council brought some great ideas to the table.  We’ll take the knowledge we gained at this meeting, share it with our key people back in Wendell and work hard to make things go a bit smoother for our dealers and their customers,” Greene says.
 
Following the sit-down portion of the meeting at the Courtyard, the group traveled out to the Wichita Tractor headquarters to tour a KIOTI dealer operation. The next meeting will be held in early 2011 as a part of KIOTI’s annual dealer meeting.