With an established customer base and a forecast for growth, Snead Ag Supply and Services Inc. has opened up its second branch in Oxford, AL.

Based in Snead, AL, the dealership represents John Deere in northern Alabama, northwest Georgia and eastern Tennessee, as well as Link-Belt excavators in northern and central Alabama. It is owned by Steve and Diane Clowdus.

Sales Manager Tim Gibbs said Snead is making a strong push to convince contractors they will save money, and win more competitive bid contracts, if they make the switch to John Deere scraper tractors for their dirt-moving needs.

“It’s the wave of the future,” Gibbs said. “More people are realizing that there is a cheaper way to move material.”

He said contractors still using more conventional methods are starting to lose more and more bids to companies that have already made the switch.

Snead offers the two biggest models in the John Deere line — the 9420 and 9520, which Gibbs said can handle the biggest earthmoving jobs.

Snead employs approximately 53 people between the two locations, 10 of whom are based in Oxford. The staff includes Kenneth Williams, Snead’s general manager; Mitch Clowdus, rental manager; Gary Mitchell, Oxford branch manager; Parts Manager Jody Longshore; Service Manager Keith LaRue; and Amy Williams, office manager.

Its technicians are factory-trained by both John Deere and Link-Belt.

The Oxford branch, located at 2205 AL Highway 21, includes two buildings for a total of 15,000 sq. ft. It boasts a seven-bay shop.

Snead first acquired the John Deere line in 1993 and started selling tractors and scrapers in its Alabama territory two years later.

In 2004, Snead picked up the Link-Belt excavator line and, just this year, expanded its John Deere scraper territory to include Tennessee and Georgia.

Business is evenly split between agricultural and heavy construction, Gibbs said. As more and more cotton and corn fields are developed, the demand for large farming equipment fades. Both the construction and consumer markets are on the rise.

There are no plans currently to open a branch in the new territory, but Gibbs said they have outside salesmen working and technicians working the area. He said the company is not closed to the idea of opening a third branch should business demand it.

He also said the company would consider the acquisition of other John Deere locations in Alabama. CEG Staff

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