How has your dealership given back to your community during the COVID-19 crisis? What impact has this had on your community and the dealership?

“The COVID-19 crisis has had a direct impact on the various small communities our dealer locations serve, specifically the family-owned restaurants and retail storefronts. In an effort to support these locally-owned businesses, Wade Inc. chose a few different ways to support:

  • Gift cards – Each of the 13 Wade Inc. dealerships purchased give cards from various locally-owned retail stores and restaurants and conducted daily employee giveaways until all employees had received a card. This provided a revenue stream for those locally-owned businesses and a nice surprise for our employees.
  • Employee lunches – Each day for 7 days, all 13 Wade Inc. dealerships provided plate lunches for all of our employees. The lunches were catered by locally-owned businesses. This provided a revenue stream for those locally-owned restaurant and provided a free lunch for employee so that they wouldn’t have to get out into the community, potentially exposing themselves to COVID-19.
  • Hospital meals – We have provided lunch to the frontline COVID-19 workers in various communities, incorporating local restaurant establishments to prepare these meals.
  • Chamber of Commerce/Economic Development offices – For those area chambers in our store communities, Wade Inc. has been providing lunch to those employees who chose to work in the office to promote businesses within the communities.”

 —Cary New, Marketing Director, Wade Inc., Greenwood, Miss.

“It is great to hear of all the things the ag and rural lifestyle industry are doing.  We are sponsoring a food drive that is being dispensed to those in need in our community.  We also have an employee and a spouse of an employee that have been making mask for those in need.  We try to help advertise and highlight our local farmers’ produce, meats, etc., that is available. We all need to work together at this time.”

— Dawn Hooper, Sales/Marketing Director, Surry Equipment, Surry, Va.

“Our local Chamber of Commerce did a fund drive for small businesses and we made a nice donation to that fund. I can’t wait for all our small shops and restaurants to open up again, and want to do what we can to assist.”

— Laura Rinderknecht, Comptroller, Williamson County Equipment Co., Taylor, Texas

“We have given all part time and full time employees a Plains Ag stimulus package. They seem to all know someone who could use it or for their family.”

— Les Olson, CEO, Plains Ag, Deadwood, S.D.

“We are using a slush fund to reimburse any employee that buys a lunch meal at a local restaurant, all they have to do is bring a receipt for a noon meal to the office and we give them back half of the amount in cash.”

— Craig Stertz, Owner, Lincoln Farm Supply, Lincoln, Kan.