Brooks Tractor 75th Anniversary by Construction Equipment Guide

Brooks Tractor Celebrates 75 Years as Family Business

(L-R) are Vice President and Director of Sales, Lewis F. Brooks, President and CEO, Lew Brooks and Senior Vice President and General Manager, Mary Kay Brooks.

By Giles Lambertson CEG CORRESPONDENT Brooks Tractor leaders are enthusiastic. Customers undoubtedly find them so. Positive attitudes abound. Imaginative and proven solutions are proffered. Relationships are openly valued. No wonder the Wisconsin John Deere construction dealership is celebrating 75 years of business. “I think a customer would say that we are easy to do business with,” said Ron Aspenson, the company’s business development manager. He should know. Aspenson hired on 44 years ago as summer help washing equipment. He never left, working his way up through parts, service and sales departments. “I think the customer would talk about Brooks’ service capability and that we are easy to do business with,” he reiterates. “We understand what contractors are up against and want to make it easy for them so that at the end of the day we aren’t one of their problems or issues.” But is that as true of contractors with just one or two machines as it is with fleet owners?

“You have to treat them the same way,” Aspenson said. “There actually are very, very few customers out there in the market today and you really have to take care of them. “I love this company and I love sitting down knee to knee with anybody. Dealing with Mom-and-Pop companies is a little

This paver lists Lewis P.’s involvement in Europe’s major battles of World War II and is installed at the VFW WW II Memorial in Sun Prairie, Wis.

more relaxing. Sitting down with a fleet guy and selling a hundred tractors, I tell you, that is fun because it helps everyone in the company. But whether we’re talking about a bucket or a million-dollar dozer, whenever I close a deal, I feel like we’ve just won the Super Bowl.” Enthusiasm. You can’t buy it at Brooks Tractor, but you can feel it. ** The family company dates to 1945 when Lewis Peil Brooks and Lewis E. Kraft opened an ag equipment dealership in Sun Prairie, Brooks’ hometown near Wisconsin’s capital city. The company was named Brooks & Kraft, with Brooks the majority owner after he and his wife invested $4,500. Brooks brought to the company his experience selling farm implements. Before World War II, he had been encouraged by Louis Allis, a member of the founding family of Allis-Chalmers equipment, to work at an Allis dealership in Sun Prairie.

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Decal for Brooks Industrial Sales Inc., a subsidiary of Brooks Implement, established in the mid 50â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to sell and service construction equipment.

The original wood-framed building was located on S. Bristol Street, Sun Prairie, Wis. This photo was taken circa 1950.

Lewis P. (C) with his leadership team of Adolf Loftus (L) and Vince Ryan. (photo from the early 1960s)

Lewis P. Brooks (L) at the 58th Annual Convention of the National Retail Farm Equipment Association. Oct. 21-24, 1957, in Los Angeles.

Lewis P. (L) in front of the S. Bristol Street location. (undated)

Side view of original facility on S. Bristol Street (undated).

Elaine Brooks holds the plaque awarded to her husband (second from R) from White Farm Equipment around 1970. Standing next to Lewis P. is Gordon Cleator, vice president of White Farm Equipment.

Brooks did so for eight years before the Army called. The post-war partnership with Kraft lasted just a year. After Kraft pulled out, “Brooks Implement” plowed ahead, first selling Ford-Ferguson tractors and then Oliver tractors — both brands highly valued in their heyday. The first construction machines sold were Oliver bulldozers, followed by Insley excavators, Lorain roughterrain cranes and other construction brands. “After they picked up the John Deere industrial line in the 1960s, growth was tremendous,” said Lew Brooks, son of the company founder and president of Brooks Tractor. In 1983, the company completed its transition from agriculture products to construction products — from Oliver green to Deere construction yellow. Brooks Tractor was poised for growth. The ensuing 37 years — half the life of the enterprise — have been presided over by Lew Brooks. His ascension to the top spot occurred earlier than expected after the elder Brooks belatedly was diagnosed with cancer and succumbed to the disease in 1979 at age 67. Consequently, his son — who was working on an MBA degree — left school and returned home. At age 24, he immersed himself in the life of the dealership, finally assuming the top position in 1983. He took the reins at a less-than-optimum moment. “Those were terribly inflationary times in the country,” he said of the late 1970s and early ’80s. “Interest rates rose to 22 percent. Machines in our inventory hardly ever moved. But we all hung in there and somehow worked our way through it. I’ll never forget it.”

This FWD Wagner sanitary landfill machine is on the job in Madison, Wis. Brooks sold two of these machines to the city of Madison in 1969.

The newly-completed DePere, Wis., facility in 1969 — Brooks Construction Equipment Co. was a subsidiary established to sell and service John Deere industrial equipment in northeast Wisconsin, which included Green Bay.

The Sun Prairie service shop in 1964

Neither will his wife, Mary Kay Brooks, general manager of Brooks Tractor. Having a husband-wife team at the top of a heavy equipment company is as uncommon as it was unplanned. When Lew Brooks left school, Mary Kay Brooks stayed on to earn her law degree. At some point, she agreed to handle some legal matters for the company and playfully describes her deepening involvement in Brooks Tractor as “baptism by fire.” She gradually took on company projects. When she foresaw the need for Brooks to make service and parts more profitable, she was tasked with accomplishing it. She did. To say her involvement in the company has worked out well is an understatement. “When Lew and I got into the business, it had begun to struggle,” she recalls, alluding to Lewis P. Brooks’ battle with cancer and historically high inflation rates. “I remember we got together in the controller’s office, looked at the

books and asked, ‘If we sell everything, can we pay the bills?’ The answer was no, so we decided to keep going.” The whole harrowing experience apparently looked easy from the outside. “Ten years into it, some friends commented to me about how we had taken over this successful business. Well, when we took it over, it was hanging by a thread. Lew’s father was a strong leader, but he was sick. We had to work hard. But now it’s really prospering.” ** The entrepreneurial spirit that motivated Lew and Mary Kay Brooks three decades ago seems to be a family trait. The president’s great-grandfather, George Lewis Brooks, was a railroad employee and grocer in New Mexico in the early 20th century. He was disappointed that coastal oysters shipped to his grocery store were mushy upon arrival.

Brooks’ newly-constructed facility along highway 151 Sun Prairie, Wis., around 1961

On a rail trip to El Paso, Texas, he found a solution to his shipping problem: a lockable container in which he could put gallons of oysters surrounded by ice so the oysters could be transported great distances and retain their freshness. The Sealshipt Oyster System was born. The enterprise was run by Lew Brooks’ grandfather, Lewis C. Brooks, under the name National Oyster Carrier Company. The containers were manufactured in Kenosha, Wis. Lewis C. Brooks grew the firm exponentially until he was harvesting oysters from beds all along the East Coast and shipping them to 35,000 dealers. He eventually moved to Racine, Wis., where he manufactured some of the earliest paper cartons for commercial use. It was in Racine that Lew Brooks’ father, Lewis P. Brooks, was In 1990, Lew Brooks (R) addresses Deere dealers and Hitachi management at the Hitachi Tsuchiura Works in born. His entrepreneurial gene was Japan, on the importance of the Deere-Hitachi partnership from a dealer perspective with Bob Murphy (C) vice passed to him from both sides of the president of marketing, Deere Industrial Equipment Division. family: Maternal grandfather Leo A. for machinery with a Deere Peil also was a successful Racine logo. businessman. Thus, entrepreneurially Among Deere’s top sellers at endowed, Lewis P. Brooks went on Brooks are so-called “producto concurrently start and oversee sevtion class equipment,” includeral businesses besides his tractor ing the 367-hp 470G excavator. dealerships, including real estate “The big articulated truck, companies in Wisconsin and an oil the big excavator, the big dozfirm in Oklahoma. ers, they are key,” Aspenson Lew Brooks said that, after his said. “Overall, the excavator is father’s rather sudden passing, he a huge part of the market, and regretted he hadn’t taken more then you can flip a coin opportunities to talk at length with between dozers and wheel his father. loaders as to sales — probably “I learned so much about him loaders win because they are after he passed away. He always was so versatile. In compact modlooking forward. He was soft-spoken els, the skid steer has the and very intelligent. He knew how to – Lew Brooks – biggest numbers.” delegate — he was a great delegator. Deere has entrusted all of Two of the things I learned from him Wisconsin’s metro areas to were to be very honest with employBrooks Tractor and Lew ees and customers and to have finanBrooks highly values the Deere-Brooks partnership. cial reserves, because this business is cyclical.” “We are opportunistic about picking up non-Deere product The company president said his father never would talk with him about his Army years. The elder Brooks had been a corporal lines, but we don’t want to take our focus away from John Deere. We don’t want to compete with the Deere lines.” in a medical detachment for a combat engineer battalion. Still, Brooks Tractor is not a one-trick pony. Case in point: The “He was assigned that role because he was 30 years old and very mature,” Lew Brooks said. “He wouldn’t talk about the war dealership offers a complete line of Hitachi production, utility and except to say he never would go back to Europe, having walked compact excavators. In truth, the Hitachi crawler diggers are virtual Deere clones, sometimes rumbling out of the same manufacturing all over it.” This much Brooks does know about the military service: The facilities in North Carolina or Japan. The alliance between the manelder Brooks was present at Normandy and other deadly battles in ufacturers began more than 30 years ago. “I can remember like it was yesterday when Bob Murphy, vice the European theater, was awarded a bronze star, and once, during a lull in a fierce battle, aided GIs lying on the battlefield before president of marketing, Deere Industrial Equipment Division, announced the formation of the Deere-Hitachi joint venture to us crossing enemy lines to care for wounded German soldiers. dealers,” said Brooks. “The purpose was to jointly design and market excavators in North America. It was in the mid 80s at the time ** John Deere is in the driver’s seat at Brooks Tractor. No question. when we had a pretty limited excavator line up. It was at a Deere Eighty-five percent of the company’s service work is on Deere dealer meeting and you could feel the electricity in the room.” equipment. Eighty percent of product sales and support work is

“I can remember like it was yesterday when Bob Murphy, vice president of marketing, Deere Industrial Equipment Division, announced the formation of the Deere-Hitachi joint venture to us dealers.”

Happy 75th Anniversary to Brooks Tractor

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Brooks Tractor on their

75th Anniversary!

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moving communities forward 12

Sun Prairie Headquarters: 1900 W Main St., Sun Prairie, Wis.

Hitachi excavators are painted orange instead of yellow and most have Isuzu engines instead of Deere power plants, but the excavator lines are jointly engineered. So why offer two so-similar excavator lines, albeit noncompeting? Simple: Brooks Tractor customers who generally favor either Hitachi or Deere equipment are given a choice. The other major equipment line is Dynapac. Of the Swedish manufacturer’s 16 compacting roller models, Brooks’ top sellers are 120-hp, 84-in.wide units. Other popular brands of construction equipment include Allied and Epiroc (Atlas Copco) attachments and Etnyre and Felling trailers. ** And then there are geopositioning products. Ten years ago, Matt Sullivan, general sales manager, recognized an emerging synergism between construction equipment and the software and hardware positioning systems. “We saw this coming and we didn’t want an outside company, a third party, handling it. We wanted our customers to get everything from one place.”

(L-R back row) are Rob Vavra, Bret Schmitz, Jeremy Sigler, Paul Fuerstenberg, Curt Stibb, Trevor Gaska, David Clower, Eric Alfson, Sam Taber, Jeff Steele, Jacob Block, Jon Pollei, Bryce Eno and Ross Phelps. (LR front row) are Justin Ford, Sue Newton, Brett Liddicoat, Larry Merril, Truie Brobston, Debbie DeMinter, Donna McPherson, Mary Kay Brooks, Carrie Schulte, Stuart Wright, Paula Ritter, Lewis Brooks and Lew Brooks.

So, in 2010, Brooks Tractor introduced Leica geopositioning products, the two-dimensional and 3D systems that increase the productivity of earthmoving machinery. In 2016, when a Topcon system was integrated into Deere bulldozers in the form of SmartGrade. Brooks executives grabbed an opportunity: It expanded its geopositioning portfolio and became a full-service authorized Topcon dealer across Wisconsin. Today, Brooks Tractor offers Topcon, Leica and Sokkia positioning systems, catering to different customer brand preferences for road and site work. “I would say 90 percent of our rental equipment has the positioning software in it, that’s how popular it is. People expect it to be on there,” Sullivan said. Brooks service techs also retrofit older equipment with the new technology. Vice President and Director of Sales, Lewis F. Brooks

“There are plenty of owners of competing heavy equipment who are looking for our positioning brands and we have had a lot of success selling to them. Those sales sometimes lead a customer back to the dealership for other products.” – Mike Gander – integrated grade control account manager

The systems were first engineered for dozers, but Mike Gander, positioning sales specialist, said “that’s changing quickly because there are a lot more excavators on the market. We’re starting to sell almost as many systems for excavators as for dozers.” Gander, a college-trained geographic information systems expert, joined Brooks Tractor five years ago. In that time, he’s seen a jump in positioning systems for compact machinery. “The compact GPS industry is starting to pick up a lot. It’s a lot cheaper to do a job with a Deere 333 skid steer than a 450 dozer.” The learning curve for using the technology is short enough that “customers generally pick it up really fast,” Gander said.

To help the learning, Brooks Tractor offers a full complement of training modules, including teaching contractors “on the fly” as well as in regularly scheduled in-house sessions. As an OEM Topcon dealer, Brooks Tractor can serve all brands of heavy equipment — and does. “There are plenty of owners of competing heavy equipment who are looking for our positioning brands and we have had a lot of success selling to them,” said Gander. “Those sales sometimes lead a customer back to the dealership for other products.” Another nouveau tech instrument Brooks Tractor customers are coming to appreciate is the drone. “People still are trying to figure out how a drone fits into their business schematic, which is pretty typical for a new product,” Gander said.

Travis Larson, positioning support specialist

Aaron Knuppel, positioning systems support manager

Rod Nachreiner, Sun Prairie field technician

Some current applications include visual updating of projects for project owners and safety-monitoring of job sites. Quarry operators use drone overflights to measure stockpiles and analyze the efficiency of truck traffic patterns. But itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new, so some contractors are leery. For them, Brooks Tractor has a solution: A certified Brooks drone operator will demonstrate the flying machine. If a contractor still balks, he can hire the operator to do the job for him.

Ryan LaReau, Sun Prairie field technician

Brian Hanson, Mt. Pleasant account manager

** After Mary Kay Brooks reimagined the critical role of parts and service, the departments never looked back. In 2020, they are riding high on fleet connecting technologies. Capital improvements and innovative service offerings have positioned them to capture additional market share. Telematics continues to revolutionize service. The long-distance diagnostics and early-warning systems can discern anomalies and recommend a fix before a major failure triggers downtime. Telematic data lets service techs respond more efficiently to emergency calls, and routine maintenance support is less disruptive. JDLink is the Deere version of this technology. Brooks Tractor does its monitoring via a dedicated office in De Pere. It’s backed up by a Deere monitoring unit in Dubuque, Iowa, which systematically scans Deere products across the country to spot aberrations in performance. If a part or a particular model seems to have a generic fault, that information is passed along to Brooks and other dealers, who in turn alert end-users. All of this scrutiny means customers are increasingly protected — and dealers are busy. “We’re catching problems customers aren’t seeing,” said Bryon Hansen, general service manager. “The small problems can lead to bigger problems and we’re catching them ahead of time. And, yes, there’s some increase in service as a result. It can generate extra work for us.” Brooks Tractor broadened its customer base when it became a certified repair dealer of Isuzu and Yanmar engines. Some Deere products utilize those engines, but so do competing brands of equipment. The powerplants also are employed on generators and small equipment, such as ATVs marketed by Cabela’s sporting centers. All of these became potential Brooks customers.

(L-R): Brooks Tractor’s Mt. Pleasant, Wis., sales and service team includes Alex Decker, Tyler Wickersheim, Steve Brunnelson, Zach Karpinski, Andrew Gillmore, Tom Hendrickson, Matt Ross, Brian Didenko and Rob Bryant showing off their Kenworth service truck with a new wrap.

Congratulations

Brooks Tractor and their employees on 75 years of sales, service and excellence

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Six Locations in Wisconsin to serve you! Sun Prairie (Madison) • Milwaukee • De Pere (Green Bay) West Salem (La Crosse) • Plover (Stevens Point) • Mt. Pleasant (Racine)

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at 608-220-1723 rollieaspenson@ brookstractor.com

See our entire used inventory at www.brookstractor.com 2018 JOHN DEERE 160G LC

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Stk #C94439, Cab w/ A/C, EH Controls, Air Ride Seat, Hi-Flo, Aux Hyds, Ride Control, 2 Speed, Wide Rubber Tracks, General Purpose Bkt, 84" Bucket, Reversing Fan, 1471 Hrs ..........................................$45,000

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We have the equipment you need for rent or ownership and the most cost effective, technology driven solutions available.

“At two of our locations right now, we’re doing electrical and cooling work on some competitors’ machines,” Hansen said. “As long as we feel comfortable undertaking the work, we’ll help those equipment owners. But our priority always is our Deere, Hitachi and Dynapac customers.” Rebuilding machinery is the next challenge for Brooks Tractor. Some Deere dealerships partner with the manufacturer to operate “new life centers” for worn-out machinery. Overhauls are exacting and so are the requirements for doing them, according to Hansen. “Qualifying to be a center is rigorous and we’re in the process of becoming certified. We hope in the next year to have two of the centers, in Sun Prairie and Plover.”

“We’re catching problems customers aren’t seeing. The small problems can lead to bigger problems and we’re catching them ahead of time.” – Bryon Hansen – general service manager

Brooks Tractor responds to field calls with a fleet of service trucks and lube trucks — which are wrapped with Deere logos and graphics, including a rendering of the new 850L dozer. The service trucks are either Ford F750 or Kenworth T270 units and carry cranes, waste oil tanks, air compressors and welders. The lube trucks are Ford F550 chassis with three bulk oil tanks and a grease drum. On the parts side, the electronic interface with customers is in the form of Deere’s MyDealer system. It provides equipment owners with 24-hour access to their Brooks Tractor accounts. They can enter the system to scan parts inventories at all the stores and place orders, view invoices, track their own equipment and self-perform other tasks. Brooks Tractor’s Mt. Pleasant service truck is ready for calls.

Mt. Pleasant: 1609 SE Frontage Rd., Mt. Pleasant, Wis.

Taylor Lutzke, compact construction equipment account manager

Rob Bryant, product support manager, said getting customers enrolled in MyDealer “has been a big focus. We push our customer support advisors to get customers signed up.” Introduced three years ago, the program remains a work in progress. “The Sun Prairie location has the highest utilization, but the numbers are growing,” said Bryant. He sees MyDealer as a win-win. “It helps reduce ordering of wrong parts and also helps us cut down on phone traffic at the branches. The more customers we get on it, the better we all are going to be.” Brooks Tractor carries several million dollars in parts inventory, depending on the season. The parts are distributed among the six locations — Sun Prairie, Milwaukee, De Pere, Plover, Mt. Pleasant and West Salem — rather than being stockpiled in a central warehouse. ** Like his father did before him, Lewis Brooks is training to head the firm. The 34-year-old director of sales grew up around the company, of course, working there in summer months in middle and high school. He came aboard fulltime eight years ago after earning an undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota and a law degree from Marquette University. He later decided to get an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison through an evening program, graduating in May of last year. Still…isn’t being an heir apparent a little daunting? “I don’t think so,” he said. “I don’t feel pressure or frustration. We have a really great team here. And it is very special to get to work with both of your parents. That sort of adds another dynamic. There is no better way to succeed than with your family.” Kevin Peters, customer support advisor

(L-R): Ben Adams, Scott Berlowski, Greg Druckrey, Justin Schweiger, Donald Lemens and Chuck Moldenhauer make up the sales team at Brooks Tractor’s Milwaukee location. Milwaukee: 12101 W Silver Spring Dr., Milwaukee, Wis.

He credits his 65-year-old father with being “very big picture and focused on the future” whereas his mother is a consummate “day-to-day operator focused on financial performance.” What combination of those traits he possesses has yet to fully reveal itself, but there’s no question that he’s excited about the future, partly because of the company’s embrace of technology. “We went to the cloud earlier than some did in our industry. We always are trying to use cutting-edge technology. We are very ahead of the curve in embracing technology and systems,” Brooks said. “We were among the first to adopt positioning and positioning is the future for the construction industry. It definitely is the future in our business.” Positioning of another sort also encourages him. “We are trying to position ourselves as a premier Wisconsin dealer in terms of facilities. Ever since the last downturn, we’ve been renovating our facilities, with larger shops and warehouses and larger cranes. This is not just to accommodate Deere’s larger equipment, but also to position us for future growth.” Specifically, 12- and 15-ton cranes are replacing smaller ones in service bays. The bays now have doors 20 ft. high to accommodate bigger equipment. In remodeling of the Milwaukee store, doors not only were enlarged, the layout was changed so bays could be entered and exited more easily by ponderous machines.

(L-R): Brooks Tractor’s Brian Coleman, John Knutson, Austin French, Dan Makovec, Robert Pelland, Nick Rogan and Colton Metz are ready for service calls in Milwaukee.

(L-R): Service technicians Eric Huber, Ryan Johndro, Jacob Firkus, Matt Van Pietersom, Bryon Hansen and Monty Dedor of Brooks Tractor’s Plover, Wis., shop are charged with keeping equipment running smoothly.

And a new store is coming. “We have plans for a seventh location, in Sparta, east of our West Salem store. We have a lot of customers up there. It will be a first-class facility right on the interstate. Ground-breaking was set for this summer, but COVID-19 pushed it back to early next year.” The pandemic and resulting lock-down has skewed bottom lines and projections for every company, but Brooks’ sales director believes his company’s fortunes will rebound. “We have the best sales staff we’ve ever had. Our service shops are busy. In addition to compact equipment sales, we’ve done a good job with fleet sales. We’ll see how this year ends up, but going into 2020, we were looking at three years in a row of record sales.” ** One indicator of a company’s workplace environment is how long people stick around. Brooks Tractor seems stick-worthy. As noted, the company’s business development director, Aspenson, has worked there 44 years. Sullivan, the general sales manager, is a 20-year Brooks veteran. Sales director Lewis Brooks trained under and succeeded Glenn Barber, who retired after more than 30 years. The list of long-term employees goes on and on.

Plover: 5429 Prairie Dr., Plover, Wis.

(L-R): Chris Omernick, Glen Rogowski and Taylor Dawson have all the specs on this John Deere 944K wheel loader. Visit Brooks Tractor in Plover, Wis., for more information.

Six Locations in Wisconsin to serve you! Sun Prairie (Madison) • Milwaukee • De Pere (Green Bay) West Salem (La Crosse) • Plover (Stevens Point) • Mt. Pleasant (Racine)

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2015 CA1500, 66” smooth drum, 379 hours........................$75,000

2018 CA134, 54” padfoot drum, 329 hours..........................$29,000

2018 CA2500, 84” smooth drum, 231 hours........................$99,000 2018 CA2500, 84” smooth drum, 50 hours, cab, AC ........$125,000 2018 CA2500, 84” padfoot drum, 205 hours, cab, AC, bld $130,000 2018 CA2500, 84” padfoot drum, 605 hours, cab, AC, bld $130,000 2018 CA2500, 84” padfoot drum, 633 hours, cab, AC, bld $145,000

Dynapac Asphalt Compactors: 2018 CC4200, 66” double drum, 115 hours ......................$105,000 2018 CC5200, 77” double drum, 22 hours ........................$125,000 2018 CC5200, 77” double drum, 2 hours ..........................$125,000 2018 CC900, 35” double drum, 2 hours ..............................$25,000 2018 CC950, 35” double drum, 54 hours ............................$21,000

2018 CA3500, 84” smooth drum, 214 hours......................$108,000

All machine pricing includes Warranty

Call Matt at 414-333-5359 We have the equipment you need for rent or ownership and the most cost effective, technology driven solutions available.

Celeb brating Brooks Tractor for 75 yyear e s of Outs standing Products an a d Service. Raychel Barto on Sun Prairie, WI

262-443--77193 3 rebarton@fed dins.com

CONGRATULATIONS

DYNAPAC SE S ISM I IC TECHNOLOGY – SHAKING UP COMPACTION

ŶŽůŽŐ ƚ Ɛ Ğƌ ƌĞ ŝ ĂŵĂŐĞ ĐŚ ͘

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dynapaac.us | 800 -651- 00 033

ON YOUR 75th ANNIVERSARY

West Salem: 451 West Ave. N, West Salem, Wis.

(L-R): In West Salem, Wis., Les Frama, Jason Schams, Jesse Boutin, Lisa Short, Rollie Aspenson and Blake Young have a John Deere 325G CTL and a John Deere 332G skid steer ready for Brooks Tractor customers.

Jeff Lowe, of Brooks Tractor’s West Salem store, began his career at the Sun Prairie store in 1978.

Two people on the list are Lynn Maruzczak, the company’s service operations manager, and Donna McPherson, sales operations manager. Each began as a receptionist 34 years ago and worked her way up. Their success also reflects on the opportunity for women at the company, which fittingly starts with Mary Kay Brooks. The general manager talks about her reception at Deere corporate meetings three decades ago when she literally would be the only woman in the room. “There were maybe 3,000 attendees at my first meeting and the moderator started by saying, ‘Welcome gentlemen and Mary Kay.’ Men came up afterwards and asked me why a woman would want to be in the tractor business. I said, ‘Why would she not want to be?’” Maruzczak remembers those days. (L-R): When you need top-notch service techs for your John Deere equipment, Caleb Orebaugh, Devon Young, Greg Stremcha and Matt Elliott of Brooks Tractor in West Salem, Wis., are the ones to call.

“I can’t predict the future, but when I go, I want it in a position to at least get there. When I leave the company, if it is positioned to stay around, that will make me happy.” – Lew Brooks –

“I have gone to meetings with Mary Kay. We’re a minority but they don’t really look at us now. Back 30 years ago, though, it was like, ‘Wow!’” She admits it has been a “challenge” sometimes to be a woman in a traditional male industry, but a company with women in top leadership positions is a mentoring place. Marazczak and McPherson agree about their acceptance: “We get a lot of respect from the guys here.” ** In sum, Brooks Tractor seems poised to continue its success story. With a veteran sales force, a seasoned business development manager cultivating relationships and closing crucial deals, capable men — and women — in key managerial positions, a smooth leadership transition in progress and a market-leading brand in Deere, the company seems prepared for whatever the future holds. The dealership certainly has proven to its customers and to corporate John Deere executives that it can compete. Deere rates and ranks its dealers according to a long list of criteria and “year after year, we always are near the top,” Mary Kay Brooks said. “For the six months leading up the COVID disruption, we were Number 1 in North America.” Number 1 and family-owned…that might not be a coincidence. “Familial” workplace relationships — whether of blood or common purpose — can engender extraordinary unity. A sense of Brooks Tractor being a family is remarked upon time and again. Policies like employee profit-sharing dating from 1960 are a factor in such a feeling, but so are overt acts like the company’s general manager helping to sew anti-virus masks for service technicians.

Derek Vander Heiden, compact construction equipment account manager of Brooks Tractor’s De Pere, Wis., store, is about to take this John Deere 331G tracked skid steer to a customer for a demonstration.

The sales, service and administrative staff of Brooks Tractor’s De Pere, Wis., facility (L-R) includes Adam Alberson; Matt Sullivan, general sales manager, Jerome Diederich; Ron Aspenson; Eric Wisnicky; Lynn Maruszczak; David Johnson and Wayne Schmidt.

De Pere: 1031 Lawrence Dr., De Pere, Wis.

(L-R): Brooks Tractor’s Kyle Vandenlangenberg; Chris Fischer, Craig Jorgensen, Brandon Luedtke, Bryce Pennebecker, DJ Tilot, Leo Reyes, Tom Jacobs and Keith Truckey are expert service technicians in De Pere, Wis.

“I really don’t see a downside to operating a family business instead of a corporate one,” Lew Brooks said. “We enjoy what we are doing and our son coming in was a shot of adrenalin, a reason for why we are doing this.” Does the president see 75 more years for Brooks Tractor? “I can’t predict the future, but when I go, I want it in a position to at least get there. When I leave the company, if it is positioned to stay around, that will make me happy.”  CEG

Matt Sullivan (L), general sales manager, and Ron Aspenson, the company's business development manager, are ready to celebrate Brooks Tractor’s 75th anniversary.

Rendering of Brooks Tractor’s newest location in Sparta, Wis., expected to open in 2021

Michels Corporation, Brooks Tractor — Two Generations of Partnership

By Giles Lambertson CEG CORRESPONDENT

Kevin Michels is vice president of fleet and equipment at Michels Corporation and has overseen company machinery for more than two decades. Asked how many of those years Brooks Tractor supplied John Deere construction equipment to the company, his answer is succinct: “All of them.” The two family-owned companies are Wisconsin institutions. Brooks Tractor is celebrating 75 years in business and Michels opened its doors 61 years ago. Dale Michels started his company in 1959 in his hometown of Brownsville, north of Milwaukee, where it still is headquartered. But it has expanded from a small company doing pipeline work in Wisconsin to a multi-division, multi-national corporation involved in, among other industries, energy infrastructure construc-

(L-R) are Lew Brooks, Pat Michels, Ron Aspenson and Kevin Michels.

“Brooks Tractor always has been a great overall partner. It’s a long-standing relationship. When we need something, they have been there for us.”

pany’s 12,000 machines. Excavators dominate, but Deere rubber-tired backhoes, dozers and compact track loaders are a big part of the mix. Kevin Michels said that, while most of the company’s Deere equipment is acquired from Brooks Tractor as outright purchases, a significant number are leased or rented. Whatever the method of acquisition, the transactions seem mutually satisfying. “Brooks Tractor always has been a great overall partner. It’s a longstanding relationship. When we need something, they have been there for us.” The fleet manager added that the relationship is with both equipment dealer and manufacturer. “John Deere as a corporation has been a great partner. The relationship is kind of a triad — with John Deere, Brooks Tractor and Michels Corporation working together. Everyone respects everyone else and the situation of each partner, all of which makes for a good relationship.” Asked half-seriously if he thought Brooks Tractor can possibly be there for his company for another 75 years, the vice president said he’s confident. “Brooks is in it for a while yet. Michels will enjoy many more years of working with Brooks Tractor.” Second generations of family ownership are leading each company now with third-generation family members being groomed to succeed them. In the Michels executive suite are Dale Michels’ sons, Pat (president), Tim (vice president and treasurer) and Kevin (vice president and fleet/equipment manager). Lew Brooks, the son of Brooks Tractor cofounder Lewis P. Brooks, is president today and Lew’s son, also named Lewis, is director of sales.  CEG

– Kevin Michels – tion, transportation projects, horizontal directional drilling, cured-in-place pipeline repair and a variety of heavy civil construction projects. In Wisconsin, most of Michels’ work is highway construction, including the current widening of Interstate-39/90 from four to six lanes and upgrading of its interchanges. One of several in-state Michels projects in 2020, the six-year highway overhaul began in 2015 and is on schedule to wrap up next year. Michels crews are working a 45-mi. stretch between Madison and Beloit with Deere dozers and excavators from Brooks Tractor helping reshape the corridor. “The bulk of our work is not in Wisconsin, though” Kevin Michels noted. With contracted work today across North America and in foreign countries, less than 20 percent of Michels projects are in the home state. However, Brooks Tractor provides Deere equipment for all Michels undertakings across North America. Brooks Tractor machinery is scattered among Michels’ corporate divisions, with several hundred pieces of Deere equipment among the com31

75 YEARS AND COUNTING CONGRATULATIONS BROOKS TRACTOR!!!

4275 Acker Road, Madison, WI 53704 608-222-7182 cetcompany.net

www.brookstractor.com Madison (Sun Prairie) 1900 W. Main St. Sun Prairie, WI 53590 608-837-5141 Milwaukee 12101 W. Silver Spring Dr. Milwaukee, WI 53225 414-462-9790 Green Bay (De Pere) 1031 Lawrence Dr. De Pere, WI 54115 920-336-5711 La Crosse (West Salem) 451 W. Avenue N. West Salem, WI 54669 608-786-2644 Stevens Point (Plover) 5429 Prairie Dr. Plover, WI 54467 715-254-2777 Racine (Mount Pleasant) 1609 SE Frontage Rd. Mt. Pleasant, WI 53177 262-898-6700

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Brooks Tractor Facilitates John DeereNPL Construction Co. Relationship

By Giles Lambertson CEG CORRESPONDENT

Heavy equipment manufacturer John Deere has a special 20-year relationship with NPL Construction Co., a national utility infrastructure construction company. Brooks Tractor plays a role in keeping that relationship strong. In 2013, the Moline, Ill., equipment manufacturer presented NPL with its 250,000th produced backhoe to celebrate 13 years of the Deere- NPL relationship, which at that point totaled some 1,700 pieces of machinery. Three years earlier, NPL had entered a new area of construction work and needed a quick supply of backhoes: Deere supplied 75 new backhoes to the company in 60 days. For its part, Brooks Tractor now is supporting an NPL high-pressure natural gas pipeline project in Wisconsin. The 4-mi.-long, 24-in. supply pipe is being installed in Milwaukee by We Energies, an electricity and natural gas provider in Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. Begun in April, it is on schedule to wrap up Sept. 1, according to Mike Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Leary, senior fleet manager of NPLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Great Lakes region (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana and Michigan).

A John Deere 245G LC excavator loads soil on the Capital Drive pipeline project.

Brooks Tractor has provided 18 pieces of construction equipment for the pipelaying job, including the John Deere 245G LC excavator. 34

A John Deere 310SL backhoe works on NPL’s Capital Drive pipeline project.

“The job has really worked out well,” he said, “with weather cooperating and Brooks Tractor supplying machinery as needed.” The “as needed” is key. O’Leary noted that sometimes a customer speeds up a project and asks that more people be dedicated to the task. “We go into a job with a certain amount of crew,” O’Leary said. “If the project owner wants more crew working, then we need more equipment.” That’s when the responsiveness of an equipment supplier is critical. With Milwaukee’s Capital Drive project, it turned out a different size of machinery was desired. “We saw the project required larger excavators and larger wheel loaders. We started with Deere 245 excavators, for example, but decided we needed Hitachi 350 excavators. We even had a 470 for a short period of time.” Brooks supplied the machinery. In all, Brooks Tractor has provided 18 pieces of construction equipment for the pipelaying job — including a 544K wheel loader; midsize

machines like the Deere 135G excavator; and compact machinery on the order of the 325G compact track loader. The equipment — which usually is rented with the intent of purchasing it — comes from the dealership’s Milwaukee location about 30 minutes away. The fleet manager said he appreciates the way Brooks has “streamlined” the equipment transactions by always supplying models and configurations that meet NPL’s specifications. “We have certain specs we require from dealers, different models for different reasons. Brooks always brings the equipment with the right specs.” He generally characterizes the performance of Brooks Tractor as “over the top. Basically, everyone at Brooks — general sales manager Matt Sullivan and all of them — have delivered. They are very transparent in their dealing and very easy to work with.” Besides O’Leary, who works from a Joliet, Ill., office, Brooks Tractor’s sales executives also deal with Shawn Bays. He is procurement manager in the Phoenix, Ariz., office of Centuri Group, of which NPL Construction Co. is part.  CEG

Three John Deere excavators, supplied by Brooks Tractor, at work on NPL Construction Co.’s Capital Drive pipeline project. 35

Congratulations To Brooks Tractor on ttheir 75th Anniversary! To Patricia L. Schultz Vice President Financial Advisor 33 E. Main St., Suite 700 Madison, WI 53703 +1 608 283-2310 Patricia.L.Schultz@MorganStanley.com NMLS# 1383228 http://ww ww.morganst g anleyyfa.com/p patschultz © 2019 Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC.

CRC 3125019

06/2020

CONGRATULATIONS Six Locations in Wisconsin to serve you! Sun Prairie (Madison) • Milwaukee • De Pere (Green Bay) West Salem (La Crosse) • Plover (Stevens Point) • Mt. Pleasant (Racine)

75 5

Looking forward to the next 75 years

Model RTN55TD3 55 Ton 3 Axle Trailer, 8’ 6” wide deck, 26’ deck length, Non Ground Engaging Gooseneck, 275/70R 22.5 Tires, Air Ride Suspension

Model RTN60TD4 60 Ton 4 Axle Trailer, 10’ Wide, 26’ Deck Length, Non Ground Engaging Gooseneck, 275/70R 22.5 Tires, Air Ride Suspension Etnyre trailers in stock! Call 414-333-5359 We have the equipment you need for rent or ownership and the most cost effective, technology driven solutions available. 36

Here’Ű ŹŎ ˞˜ ƛă ăØŬŰ ĤŅ Ĥ ŹĠă Ʊăĺû Congratulations on 75 years of dependable service s and community leadership that have helped generations build a better future. As yourr longtime partner, we are honored to help your employees p y build a be etter future for themselves.

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visit us at www.brookspositioning.com 2 Western Builder | April 2020

Sun Prairie, WI 1900 W. Main St. PO Box 9 608-837-5141

De Pere, WI 1031 Lawrence Dr. 920-336-5711

Plover, WI 5429 Prairie Dr. 715-254-2777

Milwaukee, WI 12101 W. Silver Spring Dr. 414-462-9790

West Salem, WI 451 West Avenue North 608-786-2644

Mt. Pleasant, WI 1609 SE Frontage Rd. 262-898-6700