A Spirit of New Beginnings: WINTERSTEIGER Sets Foot on the North American Continent
In 1986, WINTERSTEIGER established a subsidiary in Lincoln, Nebraska, for its Seedmech business unit. To tap into the large U.S. market with “Made in the USA” products, the newly developed Nurserymaster Elite plot combine was assembled in Lincoln.
Relocation to Salt Lake City, Utah
In 1989, a second U.S. site for the Sports business unit was established in Salt Lake City, with a team of seven employees. Right from the start, the Sports team successfully launched the MCR 800 stone grinding machine on the market.
Following heavy losses at the Lincoln subsidiary, the decision was made in 1990 to merge the two sites and shut down operations in Nebraska. Key employees from Lincoln found a new home in Salt Lake City.
WINTERSTEIGER Canada
WINTERSTEIGER Canada, an independent distributor of our sports products in Canada, ran into serious financial difficulties in 1994, and WINTERSTEIGER took over the site and staff in Laval, Quebec. Guided by Nicolas Nadeau, the team in Laval is primarily responsible for serving our sports customers throughout Canada.
Acquisition of Grindrite in Vermont
Grindrite, an American competitor that manufactured snowboard service machines, was acquired in 1999. WINTERSTEIGER successfully integrated the former employees into the team and maintained the site in Waitsfield.
3 Additional Seedmech Sites
After relocating from Lincoln to Salt Lake City, it was initially difficult to get the business off the ground, so the decision was made to establish additional service sites. The first site was opened in 1999 in Saskatoon, in western Canada, in the heart of the vast agricultural growing regions focused on canola and grains. Ankeny, Iowa, followed in 2001. Our colleague Sean Soyer left Salt Lake City to set up a service center in the heart of the “American Corn Belt.” Bradford, TN was added in 2013 when Brandon Jorgenson moved from Iowa to Tennessee to be closer to our customers in the southern United States.
Woodtech Opens Its Own Site in Tennessee
The successful market launch of our thin-cutting band saws for parquet production made it necessary to be closer to our customers. Our subsidiary in Spring Hill, TN, has been in operation since 2019.