Agricon Equipment Co., has been n.ocala.comamed the number one Kubota dealership in the United States for a single store location. The accolade is based on percentage of increase over the last two years and the store won out over 2,800 single-store dealerships in the country.

Owners Dana and Jack Ford attribute the honor to good old-fashioned hard work and a little help from above. “We’ve always believed in the philosophy that you treat people the way we expect to be treated, if not better,” Jack Ford said. “The good Lord has blessed our efforts.”

Kubota Tractor Corp., a Japanese agricultural machine manufacturer, announced it’s top single dealerships earlier this summer. The Fords, who bought the Ocala dealership three years ago, were hopeful to make the list of top 30 dealers but were shocked to see their name at the top of the list. “Can you imagine in little Ocala,” Dana Ford said. “It’s so exciting.”

Jack Ford said the company struggled in the first years of business after the stock market tanked. “We started to question why we did this,” Ford said about buying the dealership. The owners also learned at the time that Kubota wanted to pull the plug on the dealership before they purchased it. Ford said it took some diligent  and painstaking work to keep Kubota and previous customers on board. “We delt with one customer at a time and tried to rectify situations one at a time and now it is all starting to come full circle,” he said.

He added that having fuel-efficient, well-priced and well-financed products from Kubota has driven the store to its current top spot. Not to mention a staff that embodies the same principles as the owners.

“We’ve expanded our payroll by 50 percent and we’re on track for a 104 percent increase. In these times that is great.”

Agricon Equipment Co. is located at 5211 West Silver Springs Blvd. and offers Kubota tractors, mowers, excavators, backhoes, utility vehicles, wheel loaders and compact truck loaders as well as parts and service.