Superior Implement & Supply Company (SISCO) was born from the kitchen table of Marion Grimes and his wife, Vrina in Greenville, Ohio in 1945. Marion worked as a salesman for a farm chemical company and became interested in the farm implement business as he visited his customers in 19 counties across Ohio. After discussing his ideas with his wife, Marion and Vrina began selling Stillcraft corn pickers, Allied Hoe, American Aggregate equipment, as well as other implements from several companies in Michigan.
The company quickly grew out of the Grimes’ kitchen table and began expanding product lines when they moved to their current location on State Route 57 west of Greenville. In 1991, Jerry McConaha, the son-in-law of Grimes, took over as Owner and President. In 2005, McConaha sold the company to long-time employee Ben Overholser and his wife Gail. The Overholsers are the current owners and strive to keep Marion and Vrina’s vision of providing quality products and excellent service alive and well to this day. Their son, Josh, came on board with the company in 2016.
SISCO currently offers over 15 different quality product lines of farm machinery and lawn and garden equipment to a network of hundreds of dealers and thousands of customers throughout Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Western Pennsylvania, and Western New York. SISCO has twelve employees, three of whom are members of the Overholser family; Ben Overholser, Gail Overholser, and Josh Overholser.
All members of their warehouse staff started with the company through FFA co-op programs in high school and are still with them today. Excluding Josh, the newest member of their office staff started with the company 40 years ago. Their four salesmen have a combined 85 years of experience in the industry. It is this level of expertise and experience that helps set SISCO apart from its competitors.
SISCO was a member of NFIB before Josh Overholser came on board, as his father Ben joined in 2000, but Josh has benefitted greatly from the organization’s information and resources. He enjoys being able to attend Small Business Day at the Capitol and has experienced the impact NFIB and its members made as they successfully fought to preserve the small business deduction (BID). Josh currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the Western Ohio Area Action Council for NFIB in Ohio.
Working to preserve the BID has been great for his company, but they still face issues with government regulation, particularly when it comes to trucking and the growing cost of health insurance. Overholser says, “Any legislation that can bring our taxes and cost of health insurance down to give us more dollars to put into our business is a plus. And any legislation to make it easier on our sales team and delivery drivers while delivering equipment out on the road would also be a welcome sight.”
Some advice that John Overholser has for anyone starting their own small business today is to, “Shoot for the stars, but don’t be discouraged if you miss a few times. If running a small business was easy, everybody would do it, right? If you have the drive and determination and surround yourself with a good team, you can find success.”
Learn more about Superior Implement & Supply Company (SISCO) at https://sisco-inc.com/ or check out their Facebook page!
