OPE People

Equip Expo in the rear view

An event veteran and a relative newbie discuss the 2024 Equip Expo event. Who did what? And what does it mean for this industry? Join us as we discuss Equip '24.

Charged up for Landscaping

OPE People talks with Amner Deleon, one charged up pro landscaper. Deleon and his team at Blue Sky Green Earth tend to residential lawns in New Jersey using just battery-powered equipment. How do they do it? And why? Listen in!   

Motorcycles are okay, but that Dingo!

The compact equipment market is a hot topic, with more manufacturers going big on small machines. We talk with Toro’s Sam Dando about the market and the evolution of its unique product.

How Smart is Your Mower – Robot time

For more than 25 years, Steve Uljua has been working on robots and autonomous mowers. We talked with Steve about his work with Kress today and about the future of lawn mowing in America. Hey, at least people don’t throw things at him anymore!  

Lead Gen, Ukelele, and Acrobatics

OPE People introduces you to Kevin Sabourin, a digital marketing leader, fascinating father, and the industry’s leading ukelele artist – that we know of! Sabourin works for Rollick, a company that provides marketing tech services to equipment makers. He has some solid insights into lead generation for dealers. And he has a super interesting after-work life. Join us!   

The Balance – GTOs and Power Tools

OPE People catches up with Harold Redman, leader of Echo Tools, to talk about classic cars, e-commerce, big-box stores and how to balance it all. 

Football, Mountain Bikes, Wright Mowers

OPE People talks with Jake Segrin, business development manager for Wright Manufacturing and a passionate lawn mower. “That’s my me time!,” he said about cutting his own grass. Segrin, an OPE+ Mover & Shaker award winner, gives us the scoop on working at Wright, and his love of the Green Bay Packers. Join us!  

Wear Comfy Shoes! Kris Kiser on Equip Expo and more

We talk with the CEO of OPEI about robots, dogs, comfy shoes and more. Join us for OPE People with Kris Kiser. 

From a Dealer, for Dealers

I visited Stihl USA in Virginia Beach to get a close-up look at the company’s manufacturing facilities, and to try out some new equipment. Plus, I got to speak with Jeremy Krueger, director of business development. For Stihl, that means Jeremy works with Stihl dealers – all 10,000 of them.  
 
I got connected to Jeremy last fall when he was nominated for, and won, a 2023 OPE+ Movers & Shakers Award. Jeremy’s level of experience, his ability to understand the dealership business, is unique at the manufacturer level. Listen in and you’ll see why he is deserving of such industry honor.  

Powerful Connections

On this OPE People podcast, we’re talking about connections, powerful connections. I spoke with Cheryl Mailloux, from Anderson Power. Anderson designs, engineers and manufactures the connectors that enable battery-powered equipment to work. The company works with equipment manufacturers on … well, I’ll let Cheryl explain it.  
 
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