Southern Equipment
Not Just Selling Iron, but also Providing Solutions Experienced Employees / Targeting Growers & Producers / Service, Parts & Sales / Customer Efficient
The Plant City location of Southern Equipment.
With all of the agriculture we observe each day in Plant City, it’s easier for the average consumer to go to the grocery store and purchase their produce, never thinking what it took for that tomato or strawberry to be placed on the shelf. Making
Palmetto is the corporate headquarters location for the company, still on the same premises where the John Deere store began in 1944. Southern Equipment bought the previous business out in 1988. The Plant City location on Highway 60 opened
Paul Smith is the Branch Manager of the Plant City location.
between Plant City and the Palmetto locations of Southern Equipment. “I became interested in the Plant City business because of diversification and agriculture,” Coffman
The John Deere line stands strong at Southern Equipment.
a huge impact in our area is Southern Equipment, the authorized John Deere equipment dealer in Plant City who also offers service and parts departments for those in agriculture. BUSINESS FOCUS PLANT CITY Part 3 of 3 • PAGE 56
in 1995, when Southern Equipment took over the John Deere dealership and re-stabilized it. Chief Operating Officer Gary Coffman has been with John Deere since 1983, and now spends his time
commented. “The market looked good here, with good people and it seemed like there was a need for us to be here.” Coffman, a Certified Global Business Professional, worked as a Purchasing