Auburn Consolidated Industries, Inc. Acquires Great Dane
Auburn Consolidated Industries, Inc. and
John Deere signed papers Thursday, September 29, 2005, entering into a
strategic alliance. As part of the agreement, ACI acquired Great Dane
commercial mowing equipment assets and will be moving the manufacturing
of Great Dane products and the John Deere Quik-Trak product family to
its Auburn, Nebraska facility. These products were previously manufactured at John Deere Turf Care near Raleigh, North Carolina.
“John
Deere elected to form a strategic alliance with ACI and sell Great Dane
so we can focus our engineering, manufacturing and marketing resources
to the John Deere brand of commercial mowing equipment,” said John
Jenkins, C&CE Division President.
“ACI’s
goal is to provide a great place to work for our employees and an
exceptional product for our clients. Our reputation stands true—we
produce quality products and will continue to do so for years to come,”
said Donna R. Skaggs, owner of ACI.
John
Deere elected to partner with ACI because ACI has a proven record of
success in the commercial mowing market and has been a highly regarded
supplier for John Deere, previously earning partner status—the highest
ranking—in John Deere’s Achieving Excellence Program.
“We are
confident ACI has the ability to manufacture products for John Deere
that meet our stringent quality standards, as well as ensure Great Dane
is a competitive ongoing player in the commercial mowing market place,”
Jenkins said.
An OEM since 1926 for companies such as Honda, Kubota, Case New Holland
and John Deere, ACI also manufactures EverRide commercial lawnmowers,
which are sold by more than 400 dealers in the United States and Australia.
