Featured image: Intimidator Group’s Robert Foster speaks at today’s event welcoming The Toro Company.
“Welcome, Toro, to Arkansas, and let’s see what we can grow together.”
Those were the words of Gov. Asa Hutchinson in Batesville this morning as state and community leaders welcomed the new owners of Intimidator Group, The Toro Company, to the Intimidator facilities.
The Minnesota-based company announced in January that it was acquiring the privately-held Intimidator Group, the Batesville-based manufacturer of Spartan Mowers and Intimidator UTVs. (Click here for the story from White River Now.)
Founded in 2013 by Robert and Becky Foster, Intimidator Group introduced Spartan Mowers at a 2016 Kentucky trade show. Rick Olson (pictured below, center, with Becky Foster, far left, and Hutchinson), the chairman and CEO of The Toro Company, told the crowd at today’s event that Toro has been following Intimidator Group since that show and has been impressed with the company’s growth under the Fosters and their team.
“If anybody has lost their faith in the American story or the American dream, then they need to talk to Robert and Becky because it’s alive,” Olson said today.
He said he respected the company’s innovation, focus on customers, and the way Intimidator Group does business — all things, he said, that are important to The Toro Company. That’s why, Olson said, the companies make a good fit.
“Throughout the Intimidator Group, what you see are people who are passionate about what they do every day, are committed to doing the right thing, and are driven to serve customers and support their community. This is why we are excited about the future of the Intimidator Group and the team here in Batesville, and what we can accomplish together.”
Olson said The Toro Company will build on the team culture at Intimidator Group as well as its legacy. He said he sees growth opportunities by sharing resources and technology between Toro and Intimidator as well as the expansion of product lines and markets.
Olson noted he also saw the opportunity to further invest in the Batesville facility to support future growth and to reinforce the company’s “…commitment to the Batesville community and surrounding area where our employees work, live, and play.”
Robert Foster told attendees Intimidator Group started with 38 people and has grown to 550 employees.
“These 550 people worked their rears off, and we did a job that got the attention of a world-class company — Toro.”
Foster said he and Becky were very impressed with Olson and The Toro Company.
“You know us enough to know that there’s no way possible that we could ever let our employees, let our dealers, let our city, or let our state have someone come in that we weren’t 100% confident they could do better than we could do.”
Foster said he and his wife were thankful to Intimidator Group employees, as well as community and business leaders who have been part of the company’s growth.
He also told the crowd he and Becky will still be part of the company’s progress and will one day see it be number one in the industry.
“There’s gonna be some of us here in 25, 30 years…sitting over there at the nursing home,” Foster said, looking over the assembled guests and Intimidator Group employees. “And we’re gonna be saying, ‘Hey. We made that happen.’”
Photos provided by Intimidator Group
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