THE ONGOING STORY OF ELDER IMPLEMENT COMPANY

Elder Implement Co’s history begins with the end of World War II. George J. Poelter, a Navy soldier on his way home to New Jersey, took a detour to Muscatine, Iowa to visit Jeanne Anne Elder, a young Navy Nurse he met while serving in the South Pacific.

George never made it back to New Jersey a single man – he and Jeanne married in Muscatine in August of 1945. The couple would go on to have four children: Nancy, Brad, Tom and Charley (Chuck). Remember the last two names as they come into play later in the story.

George went to work for his father-in-law, Charles W. Elder, who owned two farm implement stores. After working for Charles for several years, George seized an opportunity to purchase the locations – becoming the sole proprietor of Elder Implement Co. in 1949. George decided to retain the name “Elder” being it was easier than Poeltler to pronounce.

Remember Tom and Chuck – George’s sons? Chuck worked for Elder Implement Co. during summers off from college and came on full-time as a technician after graduating in 1976. Tom would join the staff two years later, after serving in the Marine Corp. for eight years, to take on the positions of sales and general manager.

On July 23, 1980 the Elder Implement Company became incorporated. In December of 1986 John V. Paulk, territory manager from John Deere, came into one of Elder locations and inquired if Elder Implement Co. was interested in becoming a John Deere dealer. Tom and Chuck took only a minute of deliberation before replying to John’s question with an eager “Yes!”

On October 1, 1990 Tom and Chuck Poeltler purchased Elder Implement Co. from their father George – George would stay active in the business until 1994. Starting with their first expansion with the purchase of a dealership in Durant in 1997, Elder Implement has continued to grow and serve its customers, purchasing locations in Mediapolis and Winfield in March 2002 and Houghton in March of 2008.

On April 4, 2009 Tom and Chuck – after careful consideration – decided to step out of active management and turned all daily business functions over to a newly formed senior management team. Chuck is still a resident of Iowa City while Tom currently resides in Newsmyerna Beach, Florida. Both Tom and Chuck serve as Elder Implement Co’s board of directors.

The Senior Management team led by Randy Amosson includes Matt Poeltler, Pat McCrabb and Dave Dahms.

General Manager, Randy Amosson has been with the company for almost three-years and his responsibilities are to maintain direction of all of the parts and service departments for the company. He has over 30-years of experience in senior management roles including: technical engineering, IT, and customer service for a global Iowa based manufacturing company.

General Sales Manager, Matt Poeltler, son of Tom, who has been at Elder for over five-years and has served in variety of responsible roles within the company. In his current position he is accountable for all whole goods sales for all locations.

General Parts and Service Manager, Pat McCrabb, joined Elder back when the business resided in Nichols. His most recent duties have been Service Manager in Muscatine and General Sales Manager for the company. In his current position he is responsible for parts and service sales in all locations.

CFO, Dave Dahms, has been with Elder for two-years. He comes with over 20-years of experience in a variety of senior credit, finance, and treasury management roles with a global Iowa based manufacturing company. Dave maintains all administration, accounting and human resource functions.