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www.arborage.com Arbor Age / July 2014 29 Providing expertise in sales and service and unparalleled local support The importance of local support permeates the fabric of The Toro Company and can be traced back to Clap- per's foresight and belief that Toro should have a network to provide the local, expert service golf courses needed. The Toro Company set up its fi rst distributor in 1922 and had 17 distributors by the end of 1925, providing a big competitive advantage as it relates to serving golf courses around the country. Our distributor network, to this day, continues to play a vital role in our business, delivering local support our customers depend on. Some of these distributorships are in their fourth generation with Toro. Taking care of employees Toro's focus on taking care of customers extends to its long history of taking care of employees. As Ken Melrose, Toro's eighth president, said, "We believe the single most important factor that infl uences our suc- cess as a company is the Toro employee." Several of Toro's presidents were known for walking the plant to talk with workers regularly. They knew their employ- ees' names and their families. An interesting example of how Toro stood out in support of their employees is that during the Great Depression, while many com- panies simply let go of employees, The Toro Company opted to cut back hours instead of jobs to keep people earning paychecks. Even in those early years, company leaders knew and acted upon the belief that people were our greatest asset. Thanks to our customers for putting their trust in Toro Any company that lasts for a century must inevitably endure challenges, turning points and diffi cult economic times and learn from those experiences. The Toro Com- pany has been able to overcome these trials and tribula- tions to achieve lasting success by focusing on, and not losing sight of, our core people and performance values and the true needs of our customers. As we celebrate our centennial, we're not only looking back but also forward at new ways to take care of our cus- tomers honestly, fairly and ethically in the years to come. That means both our valued channel partners, as well as end-user customers. For us, it's not just what we do, but how we do it that counts. At the end of the day, it is our foundational values that extend from Toro through our distributor partners that have helped our company weather the test of time. And of course, it is only proper that we conclude by expressing our sincere thanks to all of our end-user customers for putting their trust in Toro. Article provided by Toro. 1919: Toro revolutionized the turf maintenance industry by mounting fi ve mowers to the front of a farm tractor. 1922: Toro changed the way the industry serves custom- ers with the fi rst national golf distributor network. 1928: Toro developed the fi rst electric-powered walk greensmower. 1940: The 76-inch Professional revolutionized mow- ing with cutting units on each side, often referred to as "wings," that adjusted to undulations in the turf and could be raised and lowered when transporting. 1948: Toro designed safer rotary mowers for homeowners after market studies discovered that many homeowners were afraid to use them. 1952: Toro invested in turf maintenance and agronomic research with the addition of James "Doc" Watson, and opened the world's fi rst research and development center specializing in turfgrass science. 1959: Toro made bagging possible for the fi rst time with wind tunnel technology that harnessed the airfl ow be- neath the rotary mower. 1964: Toro pioneered the use of plastics in golf irrigation with the fi rst valve-in-head sprinkler. 1968: First electric key start residential mower. 1972: Toro incorporated the use of hydraulics with reel and rotary mowers. 1990: Recycler mowers made bagging a thing of the past with mulching capabilities. 1999: Personal Pace system was developed – a self-propelled system that adjusts to the operator's desired speed. 2010: Toro eFlex was the fi rst greensmower to run on Lithium-Ion battery technology. 2013: Reelmaster 3550-D was developed; the lightest fairway mower on the market 2014 and beyond: Toro promises more innovations to come in the next century. Timeline