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Ag supplier follows growth trend
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JUDA - Since 2006, Jordan Implement LLC had been focusing on providing quality customer service with the farm equipment it sold, co-owner Hayley Jordan said.

When the corporation began in July of that year, the business was purchased from Steve Larson, she said. Operation of the business was done in collaboration between Jordan, her husband, Matt, and his parents.

In January 2016, the couple became sole co-owners after purchasing the business and operated by catering to the agriculture-based community in Juda and surrounding areas. However, the need to accommodate for changes in the world of ag industry led to a transition for the couple.

On Dec. 1, Jordan said the implement was closed for sales to the public and the corporation was acquired under the umbrella of A.C. McCartney.

"It was extremely smooth; we planned it out," she said. "It's like any business these days - getting bigger is a necessity."

According to a report by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers released in December outlining tractor and combine sales in the United States, both saw an increase in sales from 2016. Overall, farm tractor sales increased by 4.5 percent. Self-propelled combine sales went up by 3.6 percent from the previous year. Both were slightly higher than a five-year average of U.S. retail sales.

With the help of Powers Auction Service, a liquidation auction of the implement's equipment was held Dec. 29. Jordan said more than 700 bidders registered in the sales and estimated nearly 1,000 were at the event.

"We had a great turnout here," Jordan said.

A.C. McCartney was founded in Durand, Illinois, by Allen McCartney in 1950. Since then, it has expanded to four locations throughout the state, from Wataga to Carthage to Mt. Sterling. According to the business' website, founder Allen McCartney had a motto, "take care of the customer and you will be successful."

That motto impressed Jordan, who said she appreciated the customers her company had over the last 12 years before closing to the public and found A.C. McCartney to follow their own golden rule.

Jordan Implement employed roughly 14 people. Jordan said A.C. McCartney invited employees to interview for positions within the company and that Matt and three other workers were hired to work in varying departments.

She noted that the group looks forward to providing "the best service to customers," and that the company has been "wonderful to work with" so far. A.C. McCartney keeps an inventory of items from agricultural equipment like harvesters and field cultivators to construction equipment and parts. The company also operates its own service departments.