Forever in Blue Jeans. for Anglers. Cooking on the Slab. Loud Music, Big Crowds & Wholesome Fun. Recreation lifestyle Art business HISTORY

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1 Signaturespring 2012 Recreation lifestyle Art business HISTORY Casting Call for Anglers Cooking on the Slab Loud Music, Big Crowds & Wholesome Fun signaturemontana.com $4.95 Canadian $5.95 Forever in Blue Jeans

2 QDA PA R A L I N K TM H O E D R I L L (NEw BourgauLt DEaLEr) Q D A PA R A L I N K TM H O E D R I L L ADJUST YOUR INDEPENDENT SEED DEPTH IN MINUTES. Set your seeding depth without climbing through the frame! The 3320QDA Paralink Hoe Drill is unique in the market, as it is the only independent depth drill that allows seeding depth to be changed easily and effectively. ADJUST YOUR INDEPENDENT SEED DEPTH IN MINUTES. QUICK SEED DEPTH ADJUSTMENT Set your seeding depth without climbing through the frame! The 3320QDA Paralink Hoe Drill is unique in the market, as it is the only independent depth drill that allows seeding depth to be changed easily and effectively. QUICK SEED DEPTH ADJUSTMENT To change seeding depth, the 3320 QDA frame is first hydraulically lifted at the front caster wheels and rear carrier wheels. Shims provide 1 /8" of depth adjustment up to a total of 1-¼". Once the shims are set, the frame is lowered, and hydraulics set back into operating position. You can adjust a whole 5-plex QDA drill in less than 5 minutes! To change seeding depth, the Once the shims are set, the frame is 3320 QDA frame is first hydraulically lowered, and hydraulics set back into Talk lifted to your at the Bourgault front caster dealer wheels today to and find out operating position. You can adjust a more rear about carrier the wheels. 3320QDA Shims Paralink provide Hoe Drill and whole 5-plex QDA drill in less than 1 how /8" it fits of depth into your adjustment farming operation. up to a total 5 minutes! of 1-¼". 3320_qda.indd 1 2/28/2012 8:43:07 AM Ethridge Lewistown Billings Talk to your Bourgault dealer today to find out more about the 3320QDA Paralink Hoe Drill and how it fits into your farming operation. Dennis CroxforD, Second Generation Owner Croxford Funeral Home and Crematory Family owned and operated since 1930 Historic Landmark 1307 Central Ave., Great falls, MT Signature Montana

3 RIGHT: First Torgerson Store in Ethridge, Montana BELOW: Reier Torgerson, first generation Torgerson in Montana. Photos courtesy of Torgerson s Happy 100 years Torgerson s Text and photography by Suzanne Waring On any given workday, you will see white trucks with a red, yellow, and blue stripe channeling into two streams across the truck s side panel. You may spot these trucks while you wait at a traffic light, but most often you will see them on the lonely stretches of Montana s back roads. Drivers of these trucks are calling on or providing service to farming and ranching customers throughout Central Montana a tradition started by the Torgerson family one-hundred years ago. However, the first generation of Torgersons in Montana visited customers by horse and buggy. Born in Norway, Reier Torgerson immigrated to the United States in 1884, settled in North Signature Montana 43

4 LEFT: During the Opening of the new building, International Harvester representatives congratulate Darold, left center, and Lloyd, right center. BELOW: To make his business grow during hard times, Lloyd sold a variety of items needed by farmers. Photos courtesy of Torgerson s Dakota, and ran a mercantile business. The lure of free land through the Homestead Act brought him and his wife, Betsy, to Ethridge, Montana in They proved up land, which is still owned by the family, and opened a mercantile in Ethridge. Over the years the business sold home appliances, trucks, and even airplanes until the 1960s when the Torgersons settled on selling and servicing farm equipment. Never has it been easy to stay in business. The immigration of settlers to the free land turned into a great exodus during the drought years of the 1920s. The 1930s brought a worldwide depression, and a world war in the 1940s curbed the availability of new machinery and parts. Another depression in the 1980s hit farmers and ranchers especially hard. My grandfather had a good relationship with the farmers. He and my dad, Lloyd, were gracious and kind-hearted. They carried many loans on the books for years, said Eric Torgerson. Reier turned the business over to Lloyd and his brother, Darold, around Darold was an expert mechanic, but he developed asthma and became highly allergic to diesel fumes. He sold his portion of the business to my dad, said Eric. More aggressive and visionary than Reier, Lloyd expanded the business and sold whatever was in demand. In 1948, he built a large dealership building. That facility is still being used today because of its ample size. The doors are even wide enough to accommodate today s much larger equipment. Both Lloyd and his son, Eric, were passionate about flying. They saw that it was a faster way to meet with their customers. They built a grass landing strip at Ethridge that is today considered private but open to the public. Customers often fly in to do business at the Ethridge dealership. Lloyd passed on the business to his three sons in the early 1970s. Eric then bought out his brothers in Just short of twenty years later, Eric officially recognized his three sons as equal partners in Aron runs the family farm, Brion is the CEO of the Case/Holland dealerships, and Lin works in both areas. In the article, Perpetuating the Common Vision of Family Business, authors, Leonard and Kaufman, point out that Only 30 percent [of family businesses] survive into the second generation, 12 percent into the third, and only about 3 percent Eric Torgerson, left, and his son and CEO of Torgerson s, Brion. 44 Signature Montana

5 into subsequent generations. Yet four generations have run Torgerson s LLC. The elder member has been willing to turn over the reins of the company to allow the next generation to follow its own vision for better serving the customer even though mistakes might be made. Currently, the family is considering the best steps for putting their children in charge. To stay in business from generation to generation, we must have the ability to adapt and change without egos getting in the way, said Brion. In the new millennium, there has been pressure from suppliers to consolidate dealerships or get out. Torgersons decided to expand. In 2001, they bought the Case/Holland dealership in Great Falls, and Brion moved from Ethridge. Great Falls proved to be the best site for corporate headquarters when the family added the dealerships in Lewistown in 2003, Havre and Denton in 2005, and Billings in Farming has revolutionized in the last fifteen years. Although Eric took over the business before computers and GPS systems, as a pilot he has embraced technology, but it s his sons who take it in stride. Integrating information and putting it into computer software for analysis, and then loading the results into the farm equipment for precision in seeding, spraying, fertilizing, and harvesting is driving farming today, said Brion. In 2001 Torgerson s had 13 employees; today the company has 125. Brion, who has a degree in accounting and crunches the business s numbers, has developed a management structure to run a six-location business. It s important to empower people and support their business decisions. Consequently, our employees look at Torgerson s as their business too. Four generations of Torgersons have grown up with their customers and gone through hard times with them. When you see those white trucks with the flowing stripes, you know that a Montana family business is on its way to see a friend who also has a business running a Montana ranch or farm. SM ~A life-long interest in communications made Suzanne Waring first a college instructor and then a writer. She lives in Great Falls and writes about Montana people and their communities. PIONEER protection For Business, personal and Farm & ranch We ve got you and everything important covered Fort Benton, MT Phone: Signature Montana 45