Equipment dealer associations to merge

The Far West Equipment Dealers Association (FWEDA) Board of Directors has ratified a membership vote to merge with Associated Equipment Distributors (AED).

Established in 1946 and headquartered in Davis, Calif., FWEDA is a trade association representing the business interests of agricultural, industrial, material handling, hardware, outdoor power and rental equipment dealers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. AED is an international association based in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg, Ill, representing companies involved in the sale, rental, manufacturing and support of equipment used in construction, mining, forestry, power generation, agriculture and industrial applications.

The board members of FWEDA, which rejected a merger with another association last year, took several things into consideration in exploring the opportunity to merge with AED, said Joani Woelfel, president and CEO, FWEDA. Its members will gain access to the full range of AED resources and benefits including benchmarking reports, employee education, seminars, technical assessments and legal call counsel. AED will also continue to provide state lobbying efforts in the states served by FWEDA in addition to its advocacy at the national level.

“AED provides optimal benefits and resources for our members,” Woelfel said, “and the brightest outlook for the future.”

For its part, AED sees the union as confirmation of its commitment to grow its representation among agricultural equipment distributors, which currently stands at 22% of the membership total.

The merger is expected to be a seamless transition for FWEDA and is scheduled to be finalized by the end of August.

“We look forward to assimilating FWEDA members into the AED family and helping them meet the challenges of operating successful businesses,” said AED Chairman Matt Di Iorio.