Premier Tillage in Quinter established strong roots in 1985 when founders Dan and Darlene Chupp planted the first seeds of their agriculture implement business. The Northwest Kansas venture has since flourished, selling new products and replacement parts for conventional tilling in seven states and two foreign countries.
With 28 full-time employees and an annual payroll of more than $1.1 million, the homegrown company has yielded considerable success. Yet even successful businesses face unexpected challenges. That was the case in 2018 when Premier Tillage’s bank was placed under a cease and desist order.
“When that happens, it basically takes a business and puts you in concrete — you can’t move,” said Monte Keller, Premier Tillage CFO. “A bank that doesn’t have any authority can’t lend money, can’t give up collateral. You’re just stuck.”
For a company built on literally breaking ground, Premier Tillage wasted no time looking for options to keep production moving while they transitioned to a stable lender. That search led them to the Northwest Kansas Economic Innovation Center, Inc. (Innovation Center).
“We needed to acquire a loan to buy raw materials and keep building sweep plows and not have to lay people off,” Keller said. “We needed to find a lender for inventory and working capital.”
Financing through the Innovation Center’s Business Loan Program made that possible.
“That’s where the Innovation Center came in,” Keller said, noting that the organization was able to step into a situation that traditional lenders would have found difficult to manage. “Finding a bank to cover a business our size in western Kansas — especially with everything going on during a pandemic — would not have been easy.”
The working relationship with the Innovation Center proved to be one of the more seamless solutions Premier Tillage could have hoped for.
“Without them, we had minimal funding options,” Keller said. “It was a really good working relationship. The fact that they were able to step in, and we were able to keep our doors open and not close one day — that’s huge.”
The skilled workforce that keeps Premier Tillage forging ahead comes from Gove County and the surrounding area, making the company’s stability important to the region beyond its own walls.
“It’s all about keeping quality people in rural America — not just numbers,” Keller said. “We all need people who are productive, and ‘good follows good.’ Our turnover is minimal.”
Premier Tillage’s impact extends further still, as the company makes a point of sourcing locally whenever possible.
“All of our steel comes from Salina Steel, the tires we buy are local,” Keller noted. “If it can be bought local — it is.”
Reflecting on the Innovation Center’s role during a difficult stretch, Keller summed it up plainly.
“The Innovation Center allowed us to remain here,” he said. “We never missed a business day, our employees all kept their jobs, and we kept producing plows.”
