Single-store Nebraska AGCO dealer Merz Farm Equipment celebrated their 70th anniversary on March 9 with a "Thank You" event for their customers, employees and reps. The event included an evening dinner and a performance from country artist Logan Mize.

According to General Manager Mitch Merz, the most important "Thank You" of the evening was to their families.

"They sacrifice time with their loved ones, they sacrifice just as much as the ones out doing the work," he says. "Their spouse has to do extra, their kids have to help do the work. And when it gets down to it they are the reason we all do what we do. We don’t achieve this without everyone of them. We showed a video that told this story. My favorite line of the video is 'Their successes are our successes.'

"My favorite part of the event was my Uncles and Dad all got to speak, all got to cherish their memories, got to be proud of what they built. They each spent their entire careers building to this moment, their entire life’s work. That is special."

As part of the event, Merz Farm Equipment announced an expansion to their location, which Merz calls "the Operating Room."

"'The Operating Room' will be started this summer, it will be a state-of-the-art service facility," he says. "It will allow our service technicians to perform their job without distractions, in a clean, efficient manner. It will be climate controlled all year round, giving them a comfortable work environment.

"I nicknamed it 'The Operating Room' for multiple reasons, but the first is that these techs are skilled, they have to know what they are doing, they have to have the training and experience to be able to perform their jobs. Machinery is getting special, technologically advanced. We see ads on tv for cars that stay in their own lane…no offense to that but we have had combines with 40 inch wide heads driving themselves out in the middle of nowhere, with sub-inch accuracy for decades."

The expansion will be 17,000 square feet with a 33 foot peak inside, including an indoor wash bay. The dealership's current shop with be specific to Bobcat and lawn and garden equipment once the expansion is complete and part of the original shop will be allocated to an expanded parts warehouse.

See the videos below that include old photos of the dealership's history and a personal message the dealership produced specifically for the event.

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