CONVIO FLEX / CONVIO.

The new partnership will focus on growing and supporting the existing business for CLAAS in an important agricultural region of Nova Scotia. A primary part of this strategy is to provide superior sales and services to growers in the region.

“Eastern Canada is an important area of opportunity for CLAAS, and we are thrilled to expand our relationship with Central Equipment,” said Eric Raby, CLAAS of America President and GM – Sales. “The dealership will provide the agronomic and service expertise our expanding customer base requires to thrive. We’re looking forward to supporting Central Equipment as they continue to grow and prosper.”

Central Equipment has been serving Nova Scotia with agriculture, industrial and consumer equipment since 1958. Over the years, the dealership has become a multiline dealer offering some of the most recognized names in the industry by providing high-quality, leading-edge equipment backed by experienced parts, service and sales departments. The sales staff at Central Equipment has more than 100 years combined experience in the agricultural, construction and compact tractor market.

“This partnership allows us to continue to grow our existing customer base while capitalizing on an opportunity to expand our distribution to new prospective farms,” said Central Equipment Branch Manager Chad Bower. “CLAAS is a world-class company with an initiative to expand their business in eastern Canada and the Maritime provinces. It is exciting to be involved with a company that has the capacity and the commitment to making that expansion happen.”

For more information about Central Equipment, growers can visit their website at http://www.centralequip.ns.ca/.

###

The partnership will focus on further growing the business and expanding the presence for Tingley’s Harvest Center and CLAAS products in western Canada. Shane Tingley and CLAAS will both remain minority shareholders in the company.Tingley’s Harvest Center has built an exceptionally strong foundation with excellent support to the growers of western Canada. With the ever-increasing demand for superior agriculture equipment in the region, this strategic alliance is designed to help Tingley’s expand their unmatched service and sales for the complete long-line range of CLAAS equipment. Royal Reesink has 65 years of experience as a CLAAS dealer, with companies in Western and Eastern Europe.

“We’re very excited to expand into the Canadian market as it’s a great fit for the strategy of growing our agricultural equipment reach beyond Europe,” said Erwin Ros, managing director of Kamps de Wild Holding, a division of Royal Reesink. “Royal Reesink has ample experience in international co-management of dealerships, and we look forward to working with Tingley’s Harvest Center as a strong and strategic dealership partner.”

Tingley’s Harvest Center will continue to operate under its current name and will retain its current employee base, thereby ensuring customers can expect the same excellent service and support to which they’ve become accustomed. Tingley’s will continue to provide the long line of CLAAS products with parts, service and in-field support from a full complement of factory-trained technicians. Together Tingley’s and Royal Reesink’s experience in agriculture will allow for ample growth opportunities in Canada’s expanding agricultural market.

“Royal Reesink has been great to work with and they are very knowledgeable about the Canadian landscape,” said Shane Tingley, president of Tingley Harvest Center. “We are delighted to work with them and look forward to future business growth and expansion of the long line of CLAAS equipment in the region.”

“Canada continues to be a highly strategic market for CLAAS, and this partnership allows us to further strengthen our commitment by ensuring that our dealer network in the country is able to provide consistently excellent service and support for customers,” said Leif Magnusson, president of CLAAS Global Sales – Americas. “With growing demands from the Canadian market, we are excited about two strong dealerships working together to create a larger presence and offer even more support to the area.”

Founded in 1786, Royal Reesink has been a long-time partner of CLAAS, selling equipment in the Netherlands and Kazakhstan. The partnership with CLAAS and Tingley’s will focus on providing quality customer support to growers in the region.

In addition to being a shareholder, Shane Tingley will remain as CEO, ensuring the continued high level of support to growers, staff and Royal Reesink.

To learn more about Royal Reesink, visit their website at https://www.royalreesink.com/nl.

Cutline: Representatives from CLAAS, Royal Reesink and Tingley's Harvest Center meet to finalize the partnership agreement to expand in western Canada. From left to right: Gerwin Linnenbank, Royal Reesink; Philipp Eustermann, CLAAS; Gerrit van der Scheer, Royal Reesink; Suzanne Tingley, Tingley's Harvest Center; Erwin Ros, Royal Reesink; Shane Tingley, Tingley's Harvest Center; and Tim Conrad, CLAAS.

About CLAAS:

CLAAS (www.claas-group.com) is a family business founded in 1913 and is one of the world's leading manufacturers of agricultural engineering equipment. The company, with its corporate headquarters in Harsewinkel, Westphalia, is the European market leader in combine harvesters. CLAAS is the world leader in another large product group, self-propelled forage harvesters. CLAAS is also a top performer in worldwide agricultural engineering with tractors, agricultural balers and green harvesting machinery. The CLAAS product portfolio also includes state-of-the-art farming information technology. CLAAS employs 11,500 workers worldwide and reported a turnover of 3.8 billion euros in the financial year of 2015.

About Royal Reesink:

Royal Reesink is one of Europe’s largest distributors of high-quality machinery and components for agriculture, landscape maintenance, logistic warehousing and the construction equipment industry. It provides a strong total concept for the entire lifecycle of a machine. This spans from the financing method to optimum operation and maintenance.

Royal Reesink enables customers to achieve the highest yield from machines and systems. By focusing on robotisation, engineering, connectivity, measurability and the use of big data, Royal Reesink continually explores new opportunities for innovation. This involves sustainable solutions that respect people and planet.

###

In addition to a knowledgeable sales team, the new location will provide parts and service offerings with in-field support from a full complement of factory-trained technicians to growers in the Vermont and upstate New York region. The new location will sell and support the entire long-line range of CLAAS products.

“We value our relationship with CLAAS and are excited to expand into Vermont and provide excellent support to growers in the area,” said Chris Felosky, General Manager of Agriculture, Monroe Tractor. “Like CLAAS, we are a family-owned business and our number one priority is to take care of the customer. CLAAS shares that goal with us, which makes for a great partnership.”

Founded in 1951, Monroe Tractor offers sales, parts and service, and has been a long-term partner of CLAAS. Monroe had previously expanded its parts and service distribution before opening the location in New Haven to fit the needs of all customers. The partnership with CLAAS focuses on year-round customer support to ensure a successful harvest.

“We are thrilled to expand our brand’s presence in the Vermont and upstate New York area with the help of Monroe Tractor,” explained CLAAS of America President and General Manager – Sales Eric Raby. “We are proud of how Monroe Tractor has actively engaged in the past to provide support to new CLAAS areas which were focal points of the long-line expansion strategy of CLAAS. We are excited to watch them grow and connect with growers in this region.”

About CLAAS of America Inc.:

CLAAS of America Inc. offers a wide variety of technologically innovative tractor, combine, forage harvester, baler and hay tool products to provide growers optimum performance in the field. These premium equipment lines are designed by a dedicated engineering staff located at numerous factories worldwide and focused on the production and design of harvesting equipment. The design, performance and reliability of this equipment have made CLAAS an international market leader. For more information, visit www.claas.com.

###

The dealership also recently added the complete range of LEXION combines, moving one step closer to long line status.

“We are very happy with our recent expansion as it has allowed us to better serve our new and existing grower-customers,” said Lee File, general manager of Agri Center. “Our dealership was built on the philosophy of fostering a business relationship with both our growers and employees. It’s not just a buying and selling transaction; it’s creating long-term trusting relationships.”

Agri Center will continue to provide parts and service offerings for all products with 24/7 in-field support by factory-trained technicians to growers in Kansas.

Founded in 1952, Agri Center began carrying CLAAS equipment in the 2001 and recently began selling and servicing LEXION combines. The new location is 37,000 square feet and the service and parts departments are more than double the size of the previous location, allowing the dealership to store more parts and service growers in the field faster and more efficiently. The inventory features more than 12,000 items on the shelves. If a part is not in stock, Agri Center orders for next-day delivery.

“The new Agri Center space is new, improved and extremely impressive,” said Eric Raby, CLAAS of America President and General Manager – Sales. “The dealership offers superior support and fosters community involvement, which customers have grown to respect and trust. We are fortunate to call Agri Center a trusted CLAAS partner.”

For more information about CLAAS, visit the company’s website at www.claas.com.

###