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Dixie Chopper: ‘Stronger, better than ever’ and still here
Reports of Dixie Chopper’s demise have, apparently, been greatly exaggerated.
That was the message, if not the exact quote, delivered to the Greencastle Rotary Club during its meeting at the Inn at DePauw on Wednesday.
Presenting to the group of local leaders were new RhinoAg President Lisa Tubbs, who leads the team at both RhinoAg and Dixie Chopper for Alamo Group Inc., as well as Dixie Chopper Business Unit Manager Wes Evans and Dixie Chopper Marketing Manager Eli Kean, both members of the founding family of one of Putnam County’s great success stories of the last 40 or so years.
The talk was arranged by John Zeiner, whose long association with the Fillmore-based company started by entrepreneur Art Evans in an old dairy barn is outdistanced by an even longer association with the local Rotary club.
“We’re excited to be here to showcase Dixie Chopper,” Tubbs, who has only been on the job since September, said. “When John reached out to Wes, he asked, ‘Hey, what do you think?’ I said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’”
The main reason for this was discussion in the community of Dixie Chopper no longer existing, at least not as a Putnam County entity.
“We’ve heard some rumors in the community with regards to, ‘Is Dixie Chopper still around?’ We are, and stronger, better than ever,” Tubbs said.
Such rumors were based on changes in the company in the last eight years. There was the 2014 acquisition of Dixie Chopper by Jacobsen/Textron, making it no longer an Putnam County-owned company. Then came the announcement in 2018 that production would cease at the old Fillmore plant.
Then in 2019, the Alamo Group acquired Dixie Chopper, put it under the umbrella of RhinoAg and moved production to RhinoAg’s Gibson City, Ill., headquarters. Meanwhile, the old Fillmore manufacturing facility sold to a tire distributor the following year.
The truth, Tubbs, Evans and Kean assured, is Dixie Chopper never completely left, and now it’s writing its own comeback story locally.
“We did not close our doors in 2019 when Textron sold us because they wanted out of the mower business,” Tubbs said. “What happened was we moved our manufacturing from the original location to a new location.”
Evans later related how that never exactly worked out as planned. The assembly facility in Gibson City got up and running with the assistance of Dixie Chopper employees from Indiana, but they couldn’t get the workforce they needed.
Meanwhile, Evans was left in charge of a small group refurbishing mowers and doing customer service and warranty work at Dixie Chopper’s current facility at the north end of Fillmore Road in Greencastle.
Asked in 2021 what he planned to do next when he was done with the refurbs, Evans quipped, “I guess we’re going to have to show you guys how to build lawn mowers. We’ve got to supply these dealers, and if we don’t supply them, we’re going to lose them.”
Evans called it a joke, but added that he was serious. Someone at the corporate level also took him seriously.
“About a month later they said, ‘How soon can we get that assembly line up and going?’” Evans recalled. “I said, ‘We’ll be over next week to pick up the parts.’”
That was July 2021, and the higher ups were impressed with the results.
“They saw what we could do, and then they said, ‘What do you think about making it a permanent assembly line over there?’” Evans said. “I said, ‘Let’s make it happen. Let’s bring it back home. That’s where it needs to be.’”
That’s where Dixie Chopper now stands — mowers again being assembled in Putnam County, though now being supplied with parts from Gibson City. It’s gone so well that the line has been moved and expanded, with a desire to add a second assembly line.
“We’re running out of room in the current building. We’ve talked to the current landowner about what we can do to expand. What’s our options?” Evans said. “We’re really focused about staying in Putnam County. That’s our main objective. For those of us that have passion and desire that have been in Dixie Chopper all our lives, that’s home to us. We’re doing everything we can do.”
Perhaps most importantly, the company, though no longer locally owned, is with a group with the wherewithal to make that growth a possibility.
While Dixie Chopper is part of RhinoAg, the company is owned by Alamo Group, an international company that Tubbs explained has 27 manufacturing facilities, 4,000 employees and $1.2 billion in sales in 2020, with a goal of $2 billion in the next three-to-five years.
“Alamo Group is strong at holding on and growing the companies that they acquire,” Tubbs said. “They do not acquire and have a history or pattern to sell off. Their philosophy is let’s hold this company and grow this company. They acquire good companies just like Dixie Chopper and RhinoAg.
“Dixie Chopper, overall, is the highest growth opportunity for the company within North America,” she added later.
At the same time, Tubbs explained that RhinoAg and Alamo value keeping the Evans family in the fold in any way possible.
Such was the case recently when Tubbs and Evans were working the booth at the Equip Expo trade show in Louisville. A customer who had bought two Dixie Chopper Classics 30 years ago came up asking for Art.
“We said, ‘Unfortunately, Art couldn’t make it this week,’ but I had Wes next to me, and I said, ‘Here’s Art’s son.’” Tubbs said. “The family may not still own the business from the perspective of true ownership, but we still have the family here. Wes, Art’s son, is the branch manager at Dixie Chopper. Eli, Wes’s son-in-law, and many others within the organization.”
“Kind of a fun story,” Kean interjected, “Warren Evans had left the company and was working for RhinoAg. And then he got back into Dixie Chopper through acquisition. He’s the national sales manager.”
“The family is still so embedded and ingrained, which helps us stay true to that Dixie Chopper brand and reputation,” Tubbs said. “I’m very proud to be a part of the team.”
Having been with Dixie Chopper for its entire 42-year history, Evans called Alamo Group “a great fit.”
“Everybody we deal with all the way to corporate treats us like family,” Evans said. “The VP of Alamo Group, Rick Raborn, came to our facility for the first time and we were actually doing inventory. He showed up in blue jeans, cowboy boots, Izod shirt, and we knew who he was. He came in the door and said, ‘What can I do to help?’ I said, ‘We’re counting inventory, come on out.’ He was like, ‘Where do I start?’ That’s the kind of people we’re dealing with.”
The next challenge is making that growth happen, which on the local level starts with exactly what was happening on Wednesday – telling the story.
As marketing manager, Kean has been tasked with this, something he tried to do this past summer through appearances at First Friday and Lincoln Park Speedway.
“It’s telling that story of Dixie Chopper not being out of business, not closing our doors,” Kean said. “Engage in the community, change that narrative.”
And if the narrative changes and more space can be procured, next comes growth.
“Now we can add people. We’ve been adding people,” Evans said. “We’re basically producing more than the suppliers can keep up with right now. That’s our goal every day.”
So far the Greencastle facility has grown from seven employees to 33, with the hopes of adding more. Evans noted that the goal in the next 10-12 months is to get back to producing 10,000 units. A second line, when it comes to fruition, will mean 10-20 new employees depending on the equipment.
“We’re hoping to get back to bigger and better than ever,” Evans said.
Another key piece in growth is innovation. While the traditional zero-turn radius mower remains the bread and butter of Dixie Chopper, a pair of new products has recently been introduced.
One is the Talon R/C, a remote control slope mower. Kean explained how this product is designed for places where a zero-turn mower cannot be safely operated. The target is government and municipal consumers who need to mow locations such as overpasses.
The other is the Talon M/S, a stand-behind mini skid steer. Kean noted that a unique feature of this product is its expandable and retractable tracks, which make it more versatile than similar products from other companies.
Tubbs assured that Alamo will continue to stand behind Dixie Chopper as it enters into such ventures.
“The Alamo Group can give us the funding we need to continue to grow that Dixie Chopper brand and keep that competitive advantage,” she said.
