The North American Equipment Dealers Assn. (NAEDA) have recognized David Meyer as the Merit Award Winner for Dealer of the Year. Meyer is the Board Chair and CEO, as well as a founder of Titan Machinery.

NAEDA’s Merit Award recognizes an individual dealer member for their leadership within the industry, their dedication to industry growth and commitment to their community. Nominations are sent to NAEDA members each year, and through a rigorous process, one member stood out.

Meyer has been described as a leader, a visionary, insightful and humble. He is respected by his colleagues and known as an entrepreneur and people person with a great work ethic. He helped build an empire by having a vision, taking care of the customer, and an almost 50-year track-record of being able to execute and deliver.  

While he started with a tractor manufacturer, his ambition, love of the farm and rural America and ability to connect with people led him through the journey of running a retail equipment dealership. He enjoys collaborating with people, giving back and supporting his local community, which is evident through the number of boards and committees he has been involved with over the years. The list includes serving as a Trustee on the Univ. of Minnesota Foundation, two-term chairman and board member of the North Dakota Implement Dealers Assn., Case Construction and Case IH Agriculture Dealer Advisory Boards, Lisbon School Board, CHI Lisbon Health Board, FCSN Foundation Board, ASI Board of Directors, St. Aloysius Church Trustee and North Dakota Community Foundation Board Member. Meyer is also an honorary FFA member and received the “Friend of 4-H” award.

It can be said that his willingness to build employees is one of many keys to the success of Titan Machinery. He knew that a great company revolves around great people. He spared no expense making sure that he trained, worked with and mentored his employees, enabling them to achieve both personal and business successes and industry achievement. His understanding of others and communities is what led him and his team to go from a single dealership with three employees in 1977 to an operation of over 147 locations today.

While Titan has proven to grow both organically and through acquisitions, he worked hard to preserve the respect and legacy of retiring dealers. He went to great lengths to ensure employee onboarding was done right, with a focus on bringing value to the customer with ongoing investments in people, tools and facilities. With a win-win mind set, Meyer has been honest to a fault, kept his promises with employees and customers, and has been instrumental in making Titan Machinery a great place to work.

Meyer started his equipment dealer journey shortly after graduating from the Univ. of Minnesota working for JI Case company as a 4WD product specialist. In 1976, he became a minority partner in a JI Case and New Holland dealership located in Wahpeton, N.D., which expanded to Lisbon, N.D., a year later. In 1980, Meyer and partner, Darell Larson, purchased the Wahpeton and Lisbon dealerships from their majority owners to create what is now known as Titan Machinery. In 1985, they amicably split their partnership with Meyer acquiring the stock, and a few years later became an early consolidator of farm equipment dealerships. In 2003, Meyer partnered with Tony Christianson and Peter Christianson, and in 2007 became a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ exchange. They expanded their footprint internationally to Europe in 2012 and Australia this past year — making them the largest global distributor of the aggregated CNH Industrial brands.

Meyer was a 2009 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Regional Award Winner and was recipient of the 2009 Venture Capital Award of Excellence. He was the 2018 recipient of the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Business Gary S. Holmes Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Additionally, Meyer recently joined several dealers honored as part of the inaugural 2024 Farm Equipment Dealer Hall of Fame.

NAEDA’s board of directors extends its congratulations to Meyer for being named Dealer of the Year. The award was presented to Meyer at the annual North American Dealer Conference held on Tuesday, Jan. 30 in Dallas.

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