AUSTIN, Minn. — By the time Jack Thill organized Tradexpos 26 years ago as a venue for implement manufacturers to display the latest technology, he had devoted 35 years of his life as a farm equipment dealer near Austin.

“We sold Oliver, Minneapolis-Moline and Massey Ferguson,” he explained in a telephone interview.

Now 90 and currently confined to a rehabilitation center after suffering a hairline fracture in his hip, he said, “I hope to get back on my feet soon so I can go back to my assisted living quarters.”

While he won’t be able to attend next week’s Fort Wayne Farm Show at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, he described the show and the Coliseum as “great.”

“Before I started Tradexpos, I researched trade expositions to get a feel for what was involved,” he said as he reminisced about beginning the company he still owns. “When we kicked off the first expo in Peoria (Ill.), I had a partner and we called ourselves Midwest Shows. We split after that show and I named my new company Tradexpos.

“Farm World was one of the first places I stopped while getting started. The paper was very helpful.”

Toni Hodson, Farm World associate publisher and advertising manager, met Thill shortly after that, when she began representing the newspaper at the Fort Wayne show. “I have thoroughly always enjoyed working with Jack and the Tradexpos staff,” she said. “They’ve been delightful people, and accommodating – from the moment you move in (as an exhibitor) to the moment you move out.

“It’s kind of a family-type atmosphere. You always look forward to going to the show. They’re organizers worth emulating – honest, trustworthy and kind people.”

Tradexpos currently features trade shows in Park City and Topeka, Kan., Owatonna, Minn., and Fort Wayne. The aim is the same as when Thill launched the company: A place where the farm community could come together with agribusiness leaders to learn and to compare the latest equipment.

“I have enjoyed every minute of it,” Thill said, when the Austin Chamber of Commerce honored him in 2009 with a Lifetime Achievement Award. “I still got a ways to go,” he added.

It was during that presentation he admitted agribusiness wasn’t his first goal in life. “I wanted to be a lawyer. I was admitted to law school but I fell in love and got married.” His wife, Elizabeth Ann, died in 2013. The Thills had three sons, now married and living in Kansas, Minnesota and Texas.

In addition to operating Thill Implement, he started a second business, Thill Construction, to build Behlen grain bins. He closed both businesses in 1980. He served three terms as mayor of Rose Creek, Minn., (population 384) and has been active in Austin civic activities for many years.

His advice to young businesspeople comes from the heart: “Be friendly. You are not going to like everyone you do business with. Enjoy people. Treat them like kings.”