Wengers of Myerstown - Meet Jake Walmer

Last month NTPDA held our Summer Board Meeting and Social in Lancaster County in Pennsylvania. It was an amazing trip. So much history and things to see and do. (Like dining at an inn that George Washington frequented.) Along with our Board we had a number of members join us for the weekend. Our host was Wengers of Myerstown a multi-generation company that is seriously crushing it when it comes to construction and agricultural parts. Here we sit down with family member Jake Walmer and talk about the past, present and future.  How this company has continued to expand, where their market is and how technology has made a huge difference in overall sales. Oh, one other thing the Wengers Foundation has given millions of dollars to local non-profits. It's part of their mission.  Here's Jake...

Thanks for listening!

The award winning Insight on Business the News Hour with Michael Libbie is the only weekday business news podcast in the Midwest. The national, regional and some local business news along with long-form business interviews can be heard Monday - Friday. You can subscribe on PlayerFM, Podbean, iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or TuneIn Radio. And you can catch The Business News Hour Week in Review each Sunday Noon on News/Talk 1540 KXEL. The Business News Hour is a production of NTPDA Member Insight Advertising, Marketing & Communications. You can follow us on Twitter @IoB_NewsHour...and on Threads @Insight_On_Business.

Brand New: The NTPDA Job Board

It’s something NEW and something we hope will be a great benefit for our NTPDA Members. During the Summer Board Meeting the NTPDA Board of Directors gave approval for the staff to create a Job Board to assist in helping our membership post open positions. This benefit is for both Regular and Associate Members.

How does it work? All you have to do is send us a job posting (Position, Location, Hours, General Requirements, Contact and How to Apply) and we will create the post and place it in our Job Board section on our website.  Visitors can then search by state to find available jobs.  We will also link directly to your website so the perspective candidates can know more about your business.

We know how tough it is to find and retain good help and we hope this free benefit will enable you to expand your search beyond your local area.

We expect there may be some early issues as we’ve never done this before however, we think this should work smoothly once we (and you) get the hang of it.

The Job Posting should be in a Word or PDF document and sent to [email protected]. Kim will be creating the post for the website. Let us know if you have questions.  Thank you for being an NTPDA Member!

Michael & Kim

Building A Better Business with Jack Stack

Off mic he said to me, "I'm going to share with you what ails so many businesses, families and our nation and it can be wrapped up in two words, financial literacy." Meet Jack Stack: businessman, author, keynote speaker who, in the next several minutes, will share with you how you can build a thriving business by getting everybody on board...and it's not done by holding hands and singing Kumbaya. No, his tried and true method is to get everybody from the line worker to HR to engineering to marketing to the front office to better understand what's going on "inside the numbers" and how they can play a part in creating productivity and profit. And, it not only can help businesses but also families and that, he says, will cure so many of our nation's ills. Oh, and the NTPDA connection? The business Jack started is SRC Holdings and one of the businesses under that umbrella is NTPDA Member Global Recovery Corporation. Small world... Strap in for Jack Stack.

Thanks for listening!

The award winning Insight on Business the News Hour with Michael Libbie is the only weekday business news podcast in the Midwest. The national, regional and some local business news along with long-form business interviews can be heard Monday - Friday. You can subscribe on PlayerFM, Podbean, iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or TuneIn Radio. And you can catch The Business News Hour Week in Review each Sunday Noon on News/Talk 1540 KXEL. The Business News Hour is a production of Insight Advertising, Marketing & Communications. You can follow us on Twitter @IoB_NewsHour. 

Meet Our Members - All States Ag Parts with John Dyke

Don't let the name fool you because things are changing rapidly. Here is a story about the growth of an industry. Our guest is a long time member of the National Tractor Parts Dealer Association, John Dyke who is the CEO of All States Ag Parts a company with deep roots in the U.S. and Canada. Learn about the humble beginnings of what was a family start-up and has now grown into an international giant. You'll also learn about John's commitment to his employees and where the company is headed next...think infrastructure.  Here is that conversation:

Thanks for listening to this special edition of our national newscast.

The award winning Insight on Business the News Hour with Michael Libbie is the only weekday business news podcast in the Midwest. The national, regional and some local business news along with long-form business interviews can be heard Monday - Friday. You can subscribe on PlayerFM, Podbean, iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or TuneIn Radio. And you can catch The Business News Hour Week in Review each Sunday Noon on News/Talk 1540 KXEL. The Business News Hour is a production of Insight Advertising, Marketing & Communications. You can follow us on Twitter @IoB_NewsHour. 

Open For Business

During the past week we at the National Tractor Parts Dealer Association (NTPDA) have been reaching out to our members and visiting about their business and their families. We've talked to dozens of people and we're hearing that, compared to last year, business has been really good. "Farmers have been in the mood to fix and repair what they have and because planting season is coming up they are busy and they are buying", was one comment we heard often.

Meanwhile the biggest concern shared with us was that if business starts to falter what that might do to their employees. "I've never laid off a person since we started this business," said one of our members. "My goal is to stick with it. We had a tough time several years ago and we kept everybody working. I hope to do that now and into the future."

Commodity prices are also playing a part in how farmers are dealing with fixing and repairing their equipment. One of our members told us, "You know, if the commodities were higher maybe we wouldn't be so busy. Farmers have had a rough couple of years so buying new doesn't seem to be on the mind of many."

One of the very cool things about this association is that we all know each other, do business with each other and, generally, like each other. That always comes out in these conversations when we talk about family. It's important to them and it's also important to us so we talk about kids, grandkids, husbands wives and parents.

One final thought. Human connection is important. We've noticed that phone calls that may have been over in three or four minutes now linger as people want to stay connected and talk. It's been a pleasure to spend fifteen or twenty minutes talking business, family and friends. It's what we...do.

If we have not yet connected with you be assured you're on our list and remember on March 24 we'll celebrate National Agriculture Day.

Thanks for reading and stay safe and well. 

Retention, Recruitment and Workers Comp

We can all agree that the labor market is tight. There are HELP WANTED signs everywhere. Take a drive along any paved road and you'll see them nailed on fence posts, written on billboards and scrawled on the sides of semi-trailers. The issue is serious and you would think any employer would use whatever they can to increase worker retention and recruitment. Even focusing on workers compensation.

What?

We get it...say the words "workers compensation" and eyes glaze over. But, think about it. If you have a solid system to deal with worker compensation claims you do two things:

• Improve your employer/employee relationship with the injured party;
• Polish your employment brand as being fair and concerned. 

The key is to take the time to focus on a system to engage the injured employee and the treatment facility all to make sure the employee returns to work quickly and whole.

Recently Michael Libbie, a long time member of NTPDA, shared an interview from his radio show, Insight on Business the News Hour, in which he had a conversation with a firm based in Iowa, Colorado and Arizona that specializes in Human Resource Management. By no means does the NTPDA wish to tell you to use the firm that is being interviewed. We are simply trying to share the information that could help you and your business retain valuable workers and build a positive message about your business which can enhance your  recruitment ability. 

If you would like to listen to the conversation just click this link. Then, consider what procedures you have in place to deal with workers compensation. We know our members can often be in a business where unintended  injuries can happen. We just hope you have a plan to deal with them.

In this tight labor market we need all the help we can get.

Thanks for reading and remember to make plans to be with us in January!  We've got a dynamite program coming together and you do not want to miss it!