Dixie Chopper Expanding Workforce

COATESVILLE, Ind. – November 17 -- Since its acquisition by Jacobsen earlier this year, Dixie Chopper has been making significant investments in its products and people. In addition to several new products being added to the company’s portfolio, Dixie Chopper is also hiring on all sides of the business.

Last month, Dixie Chopper launched its 2015 product line-up at the GIE+EXPO in Louisville, Ky.

Currently, Dixie Chopper offers eight different mowers with various residential, light commercial, commercial and industrial models serving over 300 dealers across the United States.

Dixie Chopper now has a full portfolio of mowing products to fulfill the needs of both residential consumers or commercial cutters,” said Wes Evans, director of customer care and son of Art Evans, who founded Dixie Chopper nearly 35 years ago. “These new products are allowing us to move into new markets and we expect the business to grow rapidly over the next several years. In the 25-plus years I’ve been with this business, I’ve never seen so much excitement from our employees, dealers or customers.”

To prepare for the rapid growth, Dixie Chopper is currently adding staff across the company’s departments, especially in the customer-facing areas of sales, marketing and customer care.

“We will continue to invest in our two most valuable assets: our products and our people,” said Chris Vernon, new vice president and general manager of Dixie Chopper. “This is a very exciting time at Dixie Chopper and with the full support of Jacobsen and Textron behind us, 2015 is shaping up to be an excellent year for Dixie Chopper.”

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Dixie Chopper Expands Staff

COATESVILLE, Ind. – June 20 -- On the heels of Dixie Chopper’s recent acquisition by Jacobsen, the mower manufacturer has appointed a new general manager and added four more employees to its growing sales and marketing divisions. The new key roles are part of Dixie Chopper’s ongoing commitment to developing relationships with dealers, partners and customers.  

Chris Vernon, previously vice president of strategy and product management for Jacobsen, has accepted the position of vice president and general manager of Dixie Chopper, effective immediately. Since 2001, Chris’ extensive experience includes sales, marketing, and product management for Greenlee’s telecommunication product lines, general management for Rothenberger, a pipe tool manufacturer and Greenlee joint venture partner; and, most recently, his role at Jacobsen.

David Hunt was hired as a product sales demonstrator and will support customers in North and South Carolina. David will be based out of Charlotte, N.C. and comes to Dixie Chopper with 20 years of experience in sales.

Jason Sentell recently started as a territory sales manager and is responsible for supporting dealers and customers in western North and South Carolina. Jason joins Dixie Chopper with seven years of experience in sales and marketing.

Dena Jenkins was hired as the marketing and events coordinator at Dixie Chopper headquarters and will be specializing in trade shows, event planning and marketing strategy. Dena brings over 18 years of experience in marketing communications to Dixie Chopper.

Sierra Kennedy recently started as the public relations and communications specialist at Dixie Chopper’s headquarters. Sierra will be managing media relations, social media and other marketing initiatives.

“I am very excited about my new role at Dixie Chopper and the direction we are headed,” said Chris Vernon, vice president and general manager of Dixie Chopper. “With Jacobsen and Textron behind us, we are making significant investments in our parts fulfillment, our products and our people. The four new strategic hires in our sales and marketing departments will help us continue the positive momentum we’re experiencing in the marketplace. Expect to hear a lot more from Dixie Chopper in the near future.”

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Jacobsen President Comments on Recent Dixie Chopper Acquisition

April 28 -- Jacobsen's recent acquisition of Dixie Chopper reflects the momentum the mower manufacturer has built in the turf industry over the last several years. This success breeds confidence to do more ambitious things in the turf market, says Jacobsen President David Withers.

In an exclusive interview with GCI, Withers, who has served as Jacobsen's president since 2011, says in addition to strong brand recognition and reputation in the turf market Dixie Chopper was an attractive target because there was zero product overlap. The acquisition provided a unique opportunity to cross-pollinate ideas.

"At Jacobsen, we’ve been developing hybrid and electric technology for years and these guys understand how rotary mowers interact with the grass in different conditions," he says. "[The move] enhances both products lines by the strength of each.”

In addition, while Jacobsen has a significant presence in the North American golf market, in the international market that presence is more split between the golf and municipal markets.

"This is where what we see the counter-cyclical nature of the two sides coming into play," he says. "When the private sector is doing well, quite often governments and municipalities spend less and this happens in reverse where government spends more when the private sector is struggling.

"Expanding our portfolio into municipal markets protects us when one of the two sectors goes into a downturn and gives Jacobsen more stability long-term and allows us to compete with our competitors on a broader base," Withers adds. "Today, we only compete with John Deere and Toro in the golf segment and this allows us to now complete in the commercial and landscape markets as well.”

From a market perspective, it appears parent company Textron has refocused its investment on Jacobsen. Withers concurs, adding that Jacobsen's success in the golf market has proven it can grow and expand its market presence.

"Every company is in either an upward spiral or a downward spiral," he says. "You’re either spending less, cut people and guess what, you sell less. We’re in an upward spiral, we’re making good profitability, moving the business forward and therefore you invest more into new products and better service to customers and they tend to reward you for that and that in turn leads to more sales."

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Dixie Chopper Assets Acquired by Jacobsen, a Textron Company

Thursday, February 6 -- Jacobsen, a Textron Inc. company, has acquired the assets of Dixie Chopper, a Putnam County-based manufacturer of zero-turn-radius mowers for the commercial and residential markets, it was announced Thursday.

"The addition of Dixie Chopper expands our reach into the consumer and commercial sectors, including municipalities, with a full range of zero-turn mowers known for their speed, quality and performance," Jacobsen President David Withers said.

"It's really a win-win for both companies," he added, "and we look forward to building customer relationships together with Dixie Chopper."

Known as "the World's Fastest Lawn Mower," Dixie Chopper mowers are capable of mowing up to 6.6 acres per hour. The company manufactures 11 models of zero-turn mowers, from the residential Zee 2 with 21-hp Kawasaki engine and 42-inch deck to the industrial category XCaliber Twin with two 27-hp Generac engines and 74-inch deck.

"We are excited to join the Jacobsen and Textron family of brands," Dixie Chopper founder and Chairman Art Evans said Thursday.

"Our line of zero-turn radius mowers fit perfectly into the Jacobsen portfolio of products," Evans added, "and we look forward to working together to serve more customers.

"The joining of Dixie Chopper and Jacobsen offers an opportunity for Dixie Chopper to reach a global market and expand brand awareness in the process."

Jacobsen will continue to operate Dixie Chopper out of the company's Indiana facilities in Fillmore and Greencastle, and the existing Dixie Chopper management team will join Jacobsen.

With the addition of Dixie Chopper, Jacobsen offers a complete product line of turf maintenance equipment, including zero-turn mowers, small and large area reel mowers, trim mowers, wide-area rotary mowers, aerators, sprayers, utility vehicles and renovation equipment.

Founded in 1980, Dixie Chopper revolutionized the entire lawn and garden industry by providing the first zero-turn lawn mowers built specifically for commercial mowing contractors.

Known as "the World's Fastest Lawn Mower," Dixie Chopper mowers are about much more than being fast. The company prides itself on providing quality and reliability in addition to speed. To learn more about Dixie Chopper and view the complete lineup of zero-turn lawn mowers, visit the company's website atwww.dixiechopper.com.

With more than 90 years of experience in the turf maintenance industry, Jacobsen equipment is used on some of the finest formal turf areas across the United States and the world, through an extensive distribution network and the international Ransomes brand. Additional information about the company can be found at www.jacobsen.com.

Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for brands such as Bell Helicopter, Cessna Aircraft Company, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Greenlee, and Textron Systems. For more information visit: www.textron.com.

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A New Era at Jacobsen

December 19 -- David Withers, the newly minted president of Jacobsen, intends to focus on three things: customers, customers, customers.

We caught up with the man who now leads the Orange team in golf’s Big 3 as he was entering his fourth month in the job and beginning to implement some of the changes he believes will restore the manufacturer’s reputation and market share to its previous highs.

You came up from the technical side. Do you find yourself still poking around engines?
It’s too true! I have to stop myself from designing during product meetings. I love working with machines. That’s been a labor of love for me so I’ve had to spend far more time learning the business side.”

What’s priority one for you at the helm?
A lot of the issues that had hurt us were already fixed, particularly the parts and service problems. The challenge now is that we’re simply not externally focused enough. We need to be more involved and focused on the customers. You grow credibility by being out there and being involved. You have to be visible so we’re doing a lot more customer interaction. We’re going to put more feet on the street, so to speak. We’ve freed up money to hire more ‘forward-facing’ people and we’ve just named a new vice president of customer care, Tony Brown who’d been with Kioti tractors, who will be 100-percent focused on that.

What’s standing in the way of your business goals for Jacobsen?
Time, mainly. We can do it. It’s just a matter of how quickly. Unfortunately, we’re still suffering from the perception that our parts, service and backup isn’t as good as others. If anything, we’ve gone over the top on the inventory we carry and, as I said, fixed the reality. But to change the perceptions, we need to build relationships and confidence to the point where superintendents will say, ‘I’ll switch.’ We have to build relationships first at our level – the corporate level. We may have relied too heavily on dealers for that in the past. They look after existing customers well. We need to do a better job to help them bring new ones in.

What’s your take on the “new normal” in the U.S. golf market and how it impacts companies like Jacobsen?
There has been a structural shift in buying habits. We used to be able to count on equipment churning every five years. In today’s market, they just don’t churn as fast so it’s six or seven years. My guess is that (the market) will settle but with a longer replacement cycle. But, given our position, we can still grow. It’s actually advantageous to have lower market share in a shrinking market to achieve growth. The bottom line for us is to focus on the ‘three Bs”:  Build good relations, Build a good machine and Back it up. It’s just a matter of execution from there.

How do you segment the market and where to focus your sales efforts?
My belief is that the market is splitting. You cannot serve it with one product per category. The high end is very interested in quality and new technologies. There, for example, we offer the Eclipse 322 with a higher sticker but noticeable, measurable and provable improvement in quality of cut. But, we also have value offerings for courses out there that are doing the very best they can with limited budgets. Those guys still need machinery that’s within their reach. Our portfolio moving forward will reflect the fact that we have to lead in both premium and value product lines.

What are you hearing from dealers?
I’ve met quite a few of them but not all of them quite yet. The ones I’ve met are very supportive of us being more active, more aggressive and more focused on building new customer relationships. I also know from them that I’m very lucky that I’ve come into this at a time when Dan (Wilkinson) had fixed a lot of the issues that troubled them.

So what can the golf market expect from David Withers at the helm of Jacobsen?
Well, as I mentioned earlier, I will stick to the Three Bs. I try to keep the business simple so everything flows from that. Golf is a relationship industry. We’ve done the hard work on the product, parts and service side…now it’s a matter for us to be visible, meet more of our customers and build relationships with them. They want Jacobsen to succeed because they like our products and they want a valid choice. We will be out there every day in front of customers to give them that choice.
 

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