Deere subsidiary Nortrax sells seven Midwest stores to Iowa-based McCoy Group

Nortrax, Inc. has sold seven stores in its Midwest Region to the family-owned company McCoy Group, Inc. based in Dubuque, Iowa.

The sold dealerships will do business as McCoy Construction & Forestry (MCF) and will retain the Nortrax employees at the branches in Escanaba, Michigan; Merrill, Chippewa Falls, and Ashland, Wisconsin; as well as in Duluth, Grand Rapids, and Bemidji, Minnesota.

“We believe this sale represents a key strategic distribution move for John Deere and Nortrax,” says Nortrax President and CEO Tim Murphy.

Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, Nortrax is a John Deere subsidiary that operates Deere construction and forestry dealerships throughout the United States and Canada.

Tim Murphy, president and  CEO of Nortrax, a Deere subsidiary

“The McCoy family has a phenomenal track record going back to 1958 of investing and growing business for the long term,” Murphy says.

“They are hiring our Nortrax Midwest employees, which will retain the expertise and, more importantly, the relationships with the forestry and construction customers. They bring a proven track record, great financial stability and a long-term commitment to grow and support the John Deere brand,” Murphy continues.

“The McCoy Group exceeds those standards and Nortrax is handing off a business that will allow McCoy to compete and to grow throughout the 21st century. I believe this is an exciting move for the McCoy Group, for John Deere, for the Midwest employees and most of all, for our customers.”

Nortrax is now focusing on its existing 38 John Deere dealerships in Maine, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont, as well as Ontario, Newfoundland and Quebec, Canada.

There have been previous sales. For example, last November, Nortrax sold seven South Florida dealerships. And in 2003, Nortrax sold its Michigan operations.

“The heart of our business will remain at our store locations in front of the customer. It is there that we can cement our position as the technology leader in the industry through the products and services of John Deere,” Murphy says.

“We have the systems today to maximize uptime and productivity through 24-hour machine monitoring, Machine Health Prescriptions, Ultimate Uptime packages, MyNortrax customer portal, all tools designed to keep John Deere machines and John Deere customers ahead of the curve.”