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| The ribbon is cut officially opening the ET Ag Center. |
Equipment Technologies, home of the award-winning Apache sprayer and the largest independently owned manufacturer of agriculture self-propelled sprayers in North America, expands its operation by opening the ET Ag Center adding 56 new jobs by 2015.
“Equipment Technologies has seen a growing trend
of growers searching for knowledge and thought leadership when it comes to
precision farming and application in general. The ET Ag Center is built to
share our application knowledge and train the next generation of precision
growers,” said Equipment Technologies CEO Matt Hays.
In
the fall of 2011, Equipment Technologies split into two divisions: one to focus
on its award-winning Apache line of self-propelled sprayers, and the other to
focus on parts distribution, service and training. The ET Ag Center is the
logistics, service and knowledge backbone of SpraySmarter.com, ET’s e-commerce,
online sprayer parts sales website. SpraySmarter.com also has a parts sales
counter inside the ET Ag Center for local customers to pick up and purchase
sprayer parts.
The
ET Ag Center is also responsible for wholesaling both Apache sprayer parts and other
best-in-class precision and application sprayer products to retailers
throughout the United States, Canada, Ukraine, and Australia.
The ET Ag Center will lead the way in training and instruction, with
a focus on sharing precision agriculture education to the grower. Included
in the ET Ag Center are multiple precision agriculture classrooms for spraying
clinics, commercial applicator license renewal classes and simulated precision training
utilizing field computers from the top two manufacturers in precision
agriculture, Raven and Trimble. Having all of these offerings under one roof
will uniquely benefit growers from around the world as they seek to expand
their application-focused education and hands-on training.
“From
a training standpoint, we have grown leaps and bounds with the creation of the
ET Ag Center. We are increasing the number of training and service events with
the added classrooms and resources to better educate the grower,” said ET’s
director of parts and service Kevin Covey. “From a parts standpoint, we can
better serve the local applicator with the addition of an in-house
SpraySmarter.com sales counter. Online orders can also be ship within 24 hours with
a brand new logistical infrastructure, thanks in part to the additional space.”
Throughout
the planning of the ET Ag Center, the emphasis was on research and development
of the Apache, ET’s award-winning self-propelled sprayer. Included in the
construction are a test track and proving grounds located behind the ET Ag
Center with the sole focus of product development for the Apache sprayer. The
track encompasses a 45-foot high hill with varying grades ranging from 10% to
40% and multiple terraces, representing different topographical land conditions
Apache customers maneuver over.
“This
testing track and proving grounds are significant for our continued success,”
said ET’s director of engineering Chad Ringer. “ET truly prides itself on
listening to our customers. We can now experiment and implement the ideas of
our customers, fine tune a quality product, and let our customers enjoy the
additional benefits.”
Aligning
with ET’s dedication to continuous improvement and constant innovation for the
Apache is sales and service training support. These training efforts will cater
to our over 200 Apache customers residing in Indiana and nearly 3,000 more
around the world.
Equipment
Technologies, employing 97 Indiana residents with 52 living in Morgan County,
was able to proceed with this necessary expansion from state, county and city
government support. The Indiana Economic Development Corporation provided
$550,000 in performance-based tax credits and $25,000 in training grants based
on Equipment Technologies’ job creation strategy. The Mooresville Town Council
provided infrastructure assistance abatement to property tax per the request of
the Morgan County Economic Development Corporation.
"It's
great to know local government saw the need for our growth and responded the way
they did. Equipment Technologies is grateful to have the support from the
Indiana Economic Development Corporation, Morgan County Economic Development
Corporation and the Mooresville Town Council for this expansion of our research
and training facilities,” said ET’s materials manager Jeff Goodman. “Throughout
construction of the ET Ag Center, Equipment Technologies solely focused on
using as many local vendors, contractors and subcontractors as possible.”
Equipment
Technologies is the largest independently-owned manufacturer of self-propelled
sprayers in North America. Operating from its 168,000 square foot complex in
Mooresville, Ind., the company distributes its sprayers and sprayer parts
throughout North America, Ukraine and Australia through a network of
independent dealers.
The
ET Ag Center is located at 455 Merriman Road, approximately 0.5 miles south of
ET’s manufacturing facility in Mooresville, Indiana.
