The Equipment Dealers Assn. (EDA) has released the results of its annual Dealer-Manufacturer Relations Survey to equipment dealers.

Alex Power Equipment is Rural Lifestyle Dealer's 2019 Dealership of the Year in the single-story category. Here's an excerpt from the feature in the fall issue about the dealership's aftermarket philosophy.

Rex Collins, principal at HBK CPAs & Consultants, and Tim Berman, a former dealership owner who is now innovation manager at Constellation Software, discussed the issue when they met up recently at GIE+Expo in Louisville, Ky.

Change can be a disrupter to a business, but for Alex Power Equipment it has led to some of the dealership’s greatest successes.

Power Pac, based in Marshfield, Wis., recently added a second showroom to better highlight its mower and compact tractor lineup.

Next year, Ewald Kubota will celebrate 70 years in business. And while the dealership has experienced a number of changes and challenges in that time — manufacturer changes, the recession of the 1980s and now growth and expansion — owner John Ewald still manages and approaches the dealership like the family business it is. The dealership began as a single location Ford dealership in Seguin, Texas, and today is a 7-store Kubota dealership with locations throughout south-central Texas and one rental location.

“We thought our online parts business would mirror our over-the-counter business. It’s actually completely the opposite ..."