Kirschner Implement
In January 1964, we purchased the business from Bill Redfern. It was a two-story building on the corner of Genoa and Alba next to his good neighbors, Tom and John Alkire's Welding Shop. Bill agreed to stay for a couple of months to get me started and ended up working for us part-time for about 12 years. I also hired a service man for the first two years. In 1966, we purchased a lot south of Highway 2 and built a new 60 by 96 building. The morning we moved out to the new place a large number of farmers showed up with trucks and pickups to help move everything. Total sales for the first year were only $52,000. My very first sale was parts to Joe Axmann. The first machine sale was a Model B grain drill to Ralph Hughes and the second sale was a 3020 tractor to Harold McKeon. We currently emply 23 people. When we started the business the John Deere branch sales manager was a great-grandson of John Deere, the person who originally started the John Deere Company.