CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. – When Bane-Welker Equipment became an employee-owned company in 2018, not only did it benefit workers but customers and the community as well, a company representative said.

“Being employee owned is an attractive selling point to gain employees and retain them,” explained Dallas Foster, agricultural and construction salesman with the company’s Pendleton, Ind., location. If employees do their jobs and make the company successful, he noted, they have the potential for retirement income or an extra investment.

Having an ESOP, or employee stock ownership plan, also reassures customers and the community, he said. “With a family owned company, what’s going to happen when that generation decides to retire and move on? The ESOP tells our customers and the community we have a plan for the future and a plan to continue to provide service.”

Bane-Welker was formed in 2013 as the result of a merger between Bane Equipment and North Central Agri-Power. Bane Equipment had been around since 1967 and North Central began operating in 2000.

At the time of the merger, Bane Equipment had four locations and Norm Welker (North Central) had three. The company now has 15 locations in Indiana and Ohio.

Members of the Welker and Bane families are involved with the company today. The company has more than 300 employees.

Bane-Welker sells the full line of CASE IH equipment, New Holland light construction, and short line equipment, Foster said. The company is the largest scraper dealer in the United States for Ashland Industries.

Ninety percent of the equipment they sell is farm related, while 10 percent is construction and residential, he said. They sell some lawn mowers and garden tractors, he added.

Despite inflation and higher interest rates, demand for new and used farm equipment is positive, Foster pointed out.

“The environment we’re in is the environment we’re in. Farmers still have to get the job done every year. Nobody can afford downtime when we’re in a time crunch.”

Foster had been a farmer before joining Bane-Welker in 2019. During his time with the company, he’s seen a change industry wide in the amount of farm equipment available to customers. 

“When I started (with Bane-Welker), we had key pieces of equipment available on the lot,” Foster stated. “Now, pricing and availability are changing month to month. It keeps us on our toes. Everybody needs to be on the same page. A farmer can’t afford to buy a new combine and not have it in time for harvest.”

Company officials are encouraging their customers to be proactive with maintenance on their equipment. “Don’t walk into a dealership in March and order parts to fix your planters. Let’s have this conversation now.”

Farmers are running older equipment longer and some parts are hard to come by, he said. “We’ve invested more money into our parts inventory. We have a system to move parts inventory from location to location. The size of our company is a real advantage for our customers.

“We’ve tried to be very resourceful in rebuilding (equipment) we used to replace. Maintaining the up time for the customer is the goal. Whatever we have to do to make that happen. We use every tool in our arsenal to make that happen.”

For more information, visit www.bane-welker.com.