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Canastota
Employees
Waterville Employees
Lowville Employees
Our Company
History:
Willard
and Nettie White started White’s 1946.
This year White’s Farm Supply, Inc. celebrates 61 years in the
making. Let’s take a look back
at the growth, progress and accomplishments envisioned, but never
really imagined, by those young newlyweds.
When
Willard and Nettie returned to Central NY
at the end of World War II it wasn't long before they saw an
opportunity to have the American dream! Willard was born and raised in the Verona
NY area, which prompted
his return to his family farm.
Nettie was from Shandro, Alberta
near Edmonton,
a farm girl and was used to a good days work. They opened the Oneida Valley Garage at the intersections
of Route 31 and 316 where they took up pumping gas and repairing
automobiles and farm machinery.
They were just starting their own family, with a son and a
daughter, Dale and Patricia.
The
business grew and in 1948 they hired Roger Gerwig. Roger could fix anything. After 48 years of dedicated service,
Roger retired from Whites Farm Supply, but not before experiencing the
evolution of White’s Farm Supply, and the Agricultural and Lawn &
Garden Industry.
In 1949
International Harvester Company (Did you know they also made
refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners?) gained a dealer in
White’s and that relationship has endured through both Companies’
changes, as White’s continues to sell and service the Case-IH
brand. With the support of our
customers-the growth was quite fast and by 1951 the Quonset building
was added. The White family
also continued to expand, as Arthur and Arlene the next year, were
added to the clan. In 1952 more
room was needed at the store, and an addition was made on the parts
room. It was in 1956 that Douglas,
the youngest, was born. Nettie
was a good planner and organizer; she never did need to take much time
off work as all the children were born on holidays! The grounds of the original
post-war purchase were soon fully utilized, the farm behind was secured,
and in 1957 the first part of the pole barn was built. In 1953 Whites became a distributor
of Nicholson Hay tedders. They
were imported from England
and sold all over New England and
required deliveries and an extensive parts supply and support.
It was in 1960 that Route 31 was rebuilt, and it was
a challenging time, as the old building could not be considered for
modification, and a progressive new building was built. In the early sixties things were
moving quite fast, and Gehl, a company well known for their forage
equipment, contracted with White’s for warehousing of their parts
distribution throughout the Northeast.
In the mid sixties the new warehouse building was built to
handle the growth, as it was still growing with our taking on distribution
and sales of Van Dusen, Silo-matic and Brillion. The sixties also was the start of a
new direction with the sales of the Cub Cadet! The original order was for ten and they
wondered who would buy them!
Sales in the
agricultural area were growing and in the early seventies there was an
opportunity to open another store in Sangerfield, just outside of Waterville,
NY. The “Waterville”
store opened in 1972 with five employees, and has since tripled in
size! Growth was continuous and
the equipment needs of the farmer were changing. More opportunities to serve our
customers came when the Sperry-New Holland brand of hay and forage
equipment was taken on, and the Same tractor brand was introduced. White’s was the first dealer in New
York for Martin Manufacturing - a Company that
was later purchased by Gehl - that pioneered a V-style spreader. Our product line offering branched
into a new area with cow stalls and gates. We carry an extensive inventory of barn and farm lot
needs with strong relationships with Manufacturer’s, Paul B. Zimmerman,
Inc. and J. Houle & Fils, Inc.
With the start
of the 80's, a new shop, parts department, and offices were added to
the Canastota store. By the mid
eighties the Waterville
store was also adding on to their parts room with a 3600 sq. ft.
addition. Then came the
opportunity in the Lowville area to acquire a third store location on
Route 26. Our Lowville store, and
its dedicated staff is celebrating twenty years of serving the North
Country this year, 1986-2006. Meyers Manufacturing was added to the equipment offering
line up in 1986 and White’s was recently awarded their top dealer award
for 2005. With the eighties the
lawn mower business was growing fast and White's became the first dealer
for the Ferris mowers, a local manufacturer of innovative lawn care
products for the homeowner and the commercial mower specialist. Another strong relationship with a
top industry leader - Kubota - has propelled White’s through the next
decade in sales of quality lawn & garden equipment, commercial
mowers, and estate and farm tractors.
The 90's were a
bittersweet time; in 1993 the employees of all three White’s Farm
Supply stores presented Willard and Nettie White with a special plaque
and stone marker in recognition and appreciation for and to them as
founders. White’s saw their
retirement, Roger’s retirement, and the retirement or passing of
several long-time, faithful employees.
The tradition of service to the Agricultural and Lawn &
Garden industries continues with Dale, Doug, & Art leading the
company and responding to the needs of their customers and new demands
of the market. A loss in
Lowville due to an unfortunate fire was turned into a fresh start with
the building of a brand new store facility with a much larger shop to
accommodate the Case-IH Combines and the New Holland Forage Harvesters.
As the Company
moves into the 21st century, we are in yet another growth
spurt. The Waterville
store has again doubled its building size with the addition of a fully
modernized repair shop and expanded Lawn & Garden showroom. White’s
Farm Supply today employees over 65 Central New Yorkers and has a
cumulative total of well over 600 years of experience within its staff. It has awards from many of the companies
that it represents for tops honors in sales, as well as the quality of
the sales and service from lawn mowers to the largest of farm machinery
tractors and implements.
“White's was here
then, We’re here now, and We’ll be here tomorrow”
Site maintenance by White's Farm
Supply, Inc.
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