It was recently announced that two prominent commercial mower brands will disappear at the end of 2011. Ariens Company decided to phase out the EverRide and Great Dane brands and focus its commercial brand resources on Gravely, as its core professional brand.
In a press release issued by the Ariens Company, the most interesting comment was made by Dan Ariens, President and CEO of the Ariens Company, when he said, “This move will also create a bit more clarity in a marketplace that frankly has too many brands of commercial mowers.” Finally, an industry leader made the statement that we have all known to be true for many years. Every time a new commercial mower brand was announced — and there were many over the years — I wondered how it would differentiate itself from the other existing commercial brands. All of those brands gave new meaning to the term, “dime a dozen.” I consider this another smart move by the Ariens family.
An editorial that recently appeared in The Wall Street Journal summed up my feelings about the federal government’s actions taken to try to stimulate our economy. The editorial noted, “(Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner) and President Obama and their economic coterie really believe that government spending can stimulate growth by triggering private ‘demand,’ that tax rates are irrelevant to investment decisions, that waves of new regulation can be absorbed by business with little impact on costs or hiring, and that politicians can assail capitalists without having any effect on the movement of capital.”
The editorial continued, “If prosperity were a function of government stimulus, our economy should be booming.” And it concludes, “Never before has government tried to do so much and achieved so little.” My response: “Amen!”
I have a special fondness for rapidly growing family-owned businesses. I know the giddy feeling of being a part of that type of growth. It’s a wonderful and exciting feeling that I will never forget.
That’s why I’ve enjoyed reading about the growth of Certified Parts Corporation (CPC), the Janesville, Wis.-based company that purchased the assets of TecumsehPower Company in 2009, and now provides production engines and parts for TecumsehPower (Lauson) engines. In 2010, CPC purchased the assets of Hoffco/Comet and restarted production of units and parts in its Wisconsin facilities. Then, in September 2010, CPC entered into an agreement with Liquid Combustion Technology (LCT) of Travelers Rest, S.C., to jointly manufacture air-cooled engines for the OPE market.
This new agreement with LCT provides CPC with the engineering, manufacturing and sales capabilities to reintroduce the Snow King line of snow thrower engines and other engines formerly manufactured and sold by TecumsehPower. The engines will be represented and sold through LCT under the Snow King, Lauson and LCT brands. CPC will service all these brands through the existing TecumsehPower dealer/distributor network.
I’ve met the LCT principals, heard their business story, and came away impressed with them and their business plans. I still am. I haven’t met the CPC principals, but suspect they are very much like my family was, growing a business and learning or trying something new every day while enjoying success. These two companies will both gain from their new relationship. But only time will tell if there is a place in the market for Lauson engines and two-cycle and four-cycle snow thrower engines. With Briggs and Stratton and MTD both making their own snow thrower engines, demand is a lot different today than it was a few years ago. And we all know that snow throwers, like generators, are opportunity sales. Nevertheless, we wish this new partnership good luck in their new venture.
This is an old story, but it never fails to bring me a smile. Several men are in a golf club locker room when a cell phone rings. A man answers the phone. “Yes, I’m finished with my game so I can talk. You’re out shopping? And you want to order those new carpets? Okay…and they’ll include the curtains for an extra $5,000? Sure, why not?”
The golf buddies start to laugh.
“You want to book that week-long cruise? They’ll hold the price at $12,000? Sounds good to me. How about two weeks? If that’s what you want, okay by me.”
The buddies start to wonder where he’s been hiding the money.
He continues: “And you want to give the builder the go-ahead for the house addition? $75,000 if we say yes today? Sounds fair — sure, that’s fine.”
Glances of amazement all around.
“Okay, see you later. Yes, love you too,” says the man, ending the call.
He looks at the other men and says, "Whose Phone is this anyway?"
