Marketing View: 15 Key Marketing Trends to Watch for in 2024

15 Key Marketing Trends to Watch for in 2024 Staying ahead of the curve in marketing is essential for companies seeking to thrive in 2024 and beyond. As technology changes the way marketers operate, it’s important to stay informed about the latest innovations so you can effectively connect with your audience in the year ahead....…

Executive Insight: Cautious Optimism

As we say goodbye to 2023 and welcome 2024, this issue of the Retailer is focused on our economy.  As we have heard from many of you, along with the sentiments you’ve heard in your dealerships, there is an uneasiness underlying our current economic condition.  A few of the factors contributing to this feeling include...…

Johnson County Central High School Recognized for Leadership in Technical Education

L to R: Mark Badertscher (AKRS Equipment), Larry Stauffer (Bruna Implement), Students from Johnson County Central FFA, Mike Brown (KanEquip) [FOR RELEASE: January 9, 2024] The Iowa-Nebraska Equipment Dealers Association (INEDA), host of the Nebraska Ag Expo, is pleased to recognize and support the career and technical education program at Johnson County Central High School...…

Lincoln Northeast High School Recognized for Leadership in Technical Education

Johnston, IA – The Iowa-Nebraska Equipment Dealers Association (INEDA), host of the Nebraska Ag Expo, is pleased to recognize and support the career and technical education program at Lincoln Northeast High School in Lincoln, Nebraska. “Today’s equipment industry embodies the highest level of cutting-edge technology in the world,” said Mark Hennessey, President and CEO of...…

Workforce Summit Success

On May 24 and 25, the Iowa-Nebraska Equipment Dealers Association (INEDA) hosted its Workforce Development Summit: Innovative Solutions for Hiring and Retention in Grand Island, NE, and Ankeny, IA, respectively. These summits focused on collaboration and gave attendees the opportunity to share their experiences and ideas, as well as develop action plans to take home...…

Marketing View: Using Social Media as a Recruitment Tool

Social media is an effective tool to market your dealership to customers, but did you know it can also serve as an avenue to recruit new employees? Social media platforms can be used by your dealership to post vacant positions, connect with job seekers, and share content that makes your company appealing to potential candidates....…

Getting To Know Jamie Mertz

My name is Jamie Mertz, and I hail from the small town of West Bend, Iowa, located in the northwest part of the state. Growing up, I was the second oldest among five children, with an older brother and three younger sisters (including identical twins). My mother, originally from Scranton, IA, dedicated her career to...…

AgDirect: Purchase Plans and Leasing Agreements

Amid rising prices of both new and used equipment, many dealers are helping their customers leverage financing to spread out their machinery costs and reduce the financial burden of keeping their equipment up to date. But is purchasing the equipment outright with a loan or financing the use of the equipment with a lease the...…

Executive Insight: Embracing a New Paradigm

After conducting eight district meetings and two regional workshops in Iowa and Nebraska, it has become evident that workforce development remains a major challenge for our members. The tight labor market, combined with competition for workers from manufacturers, has made it increasingly difficult. We have observed billboards and online marketing messages promoting, “Monday-Friday work week;...…

Nebraska Field Report: Wayward Shots from the Policy Front

FORE! For those of you who participate in the exciting (and humbling) game of golf, if you haven’t heard this yelled­—or yelled it yourself—you would be in the minority. “FORE!” is shorthand for, “You are about to get hit with a flying projectile that I can’t believe came off of the end of my club....…

How to Approach On-Board Video in Your Company Vehicles

One of your company vehicles is involved in an accident resulting in multiple deaths of a well-respected family from your community and causing significant reputational damage to your company. Don’t you want to have hard evidence showing that your driver is not at fault? In most cases involving accidents with a commercial motor vehicle, law...…

The Final Word

As I sit down to write this article and begin to realize it will most likely be the last time I get to have a conversation with you—dealer members who became my work family for the past 25 years—I feel like I should reflect and see if there was something of great importance that should...…

Stay Ahead of Trends in the Industry

Our daily routines limit us when it comes to seeing, planning, and adapting for the future. I experience this when managing the Iowa Ag Expo and Nebraska Ag Expo. Year after year, I follow the same process for prospecting for new exhibitors, mapping floor plans, assigning booths, sending booth contracts, and arranging speakers. My daily...…

Executive Insight: Education

Education is something that can never be taken away from you… Those words made a lifelong impression on me at an early stage in my adult life. Through spending time with my grandfather, a man with only an eighth grade education, I learned a valuable lesson. During my freshman year in college, I admit that...…

Reasonable Suspicion Testing: 5 Steps

Employers with a comprehensive drug testing policy as part of their drug-free workplace program often include reasonable suspicion testing, also known as for-cause or probable-cause testing. Reasonable suspicion testing must be based on individualized suspicion of a particular employee, and employers need to document objective facts that would suggest to a reasonable person that the...…

Executive Insight

To be a leader requires us to be willing, vulnerable, and courageous to make mistakes. It requires us to step out of our comfort zones, take risks, adapt to unexpected changes, and learn from triumphs and failures.