TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT
no , that is done locally . When it comes to municipal , we ’ re on state bid and state contract as STEC , and also for Kioti tractors in South Carolina . So , we can reciprocate that bid in other states because we ’ re on state bid . It ’ s something we ’ re trying to work with Kioti to get them on board with state bid and governmental bid because we can go against competitors that are all on state bid . Now that we ’ ve got STEC and Kioti on state bid for South Carolina , a lot of states will reciprocate that bid and accept it . So that ’ s helping us get in a lot more municipalities . And now we ’ ve got the skidsteers , which is helping us out too . together because we know what horsepower to specify and we know how to set it up for them . We sell as a package ; we support them and we will travel anywhere to fix anything . If they need parts , we can ship the parts .
SFM : How did the relationship between STEC and Kioti come about ? Taylor : We have been with Kioti for more than 10 years . They have a wide product range that called out to us for use with our specialized equipment . They understand the terminology and what the turf folks need . We started working with them on the specialist turf side and our local dealership has grown huge since working with Kioti .
SFM : How much of your turf business is in the golf market versus sports field specific ? Taylor : It shifts . Golf is a high-end market , and in a down economy , money is always tighter . It used to be 60 / 40 golf , and then it would switch and be 60 % sports turf , 40 % golf . At the moment , I would say we are about 50 / 50 sports turf / golf . If we bring tractors into the equation , 75 % of our tractors sold will go to agriculture and homeowners , and the remaining 25 % would be split up between sports turf and golf .
SFM : You mentioned that outside the 80 % in your AOR , the other 20 % are throughout the nation . Are those clients all higher-end clients like the NFL , MLB , etc ., or do you also sell to parks and rec , K-12 in other regions as well ? Taylor : Parks and rec is a is a huge business for us . With regard to schools , some have 70 schools in one district , and we get into those because they actually have a great turf care maintenance program . But the average high school —
SFM : Please tell us about your dealership , your location and how that operation runs for you . Taylor : We are definitely a very unique scenario at STEC because we are a manufacturer , a distributor , an importer , an exporter and a dealer . We ’ re all of those things so we know what manufacturers and importers go through , because we do the same . We export from America and we build our own . So we ’ re a unique dealership in many ways .
We have three parts people , five technicians , three drivers , two full-time marketing people , one person on the digital side , one on print and social media , and we have five salespeople and a few other ancillary people . Then there ’ s me — I make coffee and drive the forklift .
We are ideally located right between Atlanta and Charlotte — it ’ s 100 miles to the Atlanta Airport and 105 miles to the Charlotte Airport . From where we are based , for logistic reasons , within eight hours I can pretty much be anywhere on the East Coast — or at least 75 % of the East Coast — from a service standpoint , delivery and backup . We are four hours from Port Charleston and Savannah ports for our import logistics . We are 35 miles from GSP airport where all the air freight for UPS goes out of ; so , logistically , we ’ re located perfectly . Greenville is our nearest town , 35 miles away . We have a lot of engineering around here , a lot of foreign companies importing , and a lot of parts manufacturers . For what we do , our location is great .
We ’ re 20 miles from the border with Georgia and 40 miles from North Carolina , so we ’ ve got that tri-state area and the location for our dealership is really good . We ’ ve got a lot of forestry to the south of us , we have a lot of cattle farms , ranches and weekend farmers that need tractors , and large-property owners who need mowers and utility vehicles . So we are centrally located and there are not a lot of competitors nearby . Really good times . SFM sportsfieldmanagementonline . com August 2024 | SportsField Management
37