Merit Award – Dealer of the Year
The Merit Award recognizes an individual dealer member for their leadership within the industry, their dedication to growing their business into a successful entity, and their commitment and legacy to their community. This award is the highest recognition that our association provides to an outstanding and respected member.
Requests for nominations are sent out to association members each year. Like every year, our office received several worthy nominations to choose from. All the nominations come from dealer competitors, peers, and industry colleagues. We appreciate all NAEDA members who took the time to nominate a fellow dealer.
This year’s winner of the prestigious Merit Award – Dealer of the Year is Tom Rosztoczy.
Rosztoczy is the president and CEO of Stotz Equipment. The dealership’s main product line is John Deere. Stotz serves a wide range of customers, including large and mid-size agriculture, cotton and dairy, landscaping and grounds care, golf and sports turf, and residential. Headquartered in Avondale, Arizona, Stotz equipment has 24 locations in eight Western states.
Stotz Equipment is a family-owned dealership that was established as Arizona Machinery in 1947 by Fred Elder and two partners. Rosztoczy’s father, Ferenc, who was Fred Elder’s son-in-law, joined the business in 1975 and was appointed President of Arizona Machinery. Shortly thereafter, Rosztoczy and brothers Rob and Teddy joined the business. As the company expanded beyond Arizona’s borders, it was decided to change the dealership’s name. After an employee vote, it was agreed that the company would rebrand itself as Stotz Equipment in the hopes that this name would keep the business linked to the family history.
Stotz Equipment still holds true to the founding core values of the Elder and Rosztoczy families: quality, integrity, loyalty, caring, and community. The Stotz vision is to be the best equipment dealership in the world and seek to be world-class in every phase of the business.
Stotz strives to provide exceptional customer service. The dealership’s mission is to make life easier for their customers by building long-term relationships, offering flexible solutions, providing uptime availability, and minimizing customer effort. Stotz truly aims to create a better life for their families, communities, and those connected to the land.
The key elements of Stotz’s business are outlined in their circle of success: people, process, customer satisfaction, profit, and growth/market share, with people being first in the top position. The most important component, communication, lies just beneath the rest and is the conduit between each element. The Stotz Equipment logo is at the center of the circle representing their synergy and collaboration at the heart of the company’s success.
Stotz Equipment is active in the communities it serves, including involvement in local FFA and 4H Chapters. The dealership supports after-school programs, such as clubs and sports, and provide scholarships, tutoring and learning programs.
Tom Rosztoczy is respected by his fellow dealers and is viewed as a man with high integrity. He has also been active in giving back to his industry. He was a long-time Far West Equipment Dealers Association director and served as president. He also served as a director and chair of the Equipment Dealers Association. He led the Long-Range Planning Committee and merger process that resulted in the new North American Equipment Dealers Association. There is no doubting his visionary and leadership skills.
Rosztoczy has been known to say that we all have a responsibility to give back. Giving back creates a virtuous cycle that makes everyone more successful. No one becomes successful without lots of hard work, support from others, and a little luck.
Congratulations to Tom Rosztoczy for his many contributions to the associations and agricultural industry he’s served and for being named this year’s recipient of the prestigious Merit Award as Dealer of the Year.
Dealer Advocate of the Year Award
The Dealer Advocate of the Year Award is presented each year to a dealer whose efforts contributed to policy outcomes benefiting the equipment dealer industry. The award recognizes those who engage in our association’s government affairs advocacy and go above and beyond.
That is certainly the case with this year’s recipient, Scott Eisenhauer, P&K Equipment. Eisenhauer is deeply engaged in his state. In addition to being a member of NAEDA’s state advisory committee, he is also a board member of the State Chamber of Oklahoma and was appointed to the Oklahoma Lottery Commission by Gov. Kevin Stitt.
Eisenhauer’s efforts have been instrumental in stopping Right to Repair legislation in Oklahoma over the past several years and recently in passing necessary transportation legislation benefiting all dealers in Oklahoma. He’s spent so much time in the Oklahoma Capitol that other people believe he is a legislator at this point. He is not afraid to place himself in the middle of controversy. During one heated exchange in a hearing at the Capitol, Eisenhauer found himself uncomfortably situated physically between legislators getting into it. Eisenhauer is a tremendous asset to the association and the equipment dealer industry. He has given an incredible amount of his time and energy to advocate for both.
Congratulations to Scott Eisenhauer as NAEDA’s Dealer Advocate of the Year.
Article Written By NAEDA Staff
