About Us
My name is Elmer A. Gross I was born and raised in New Lothrop Michigan. I grew up on my family's dairy farm. As a kid I got my first taste of running my own business when I began to buy and sell rabbits and model airplanes.
I graduated High School from Maple Grove Catholic School, I went on to work for Buick in 1963 as a pipe fitter on Skilled Trades. I also married my High School Sweet heart Marge in 1963. We will be married 59 years this November.
We bought the Home Farm in 1965. I started attending Auctions to purchase equipment for the farm. Marge, myself and our 4 kids would load up in the Family Car and 2 wheel Trailer on Sundays to pick up the equipment I had purchased and get ice cream together, it was our Family Time and the kids still talk about those days.
When the prices were right I would buy a few extra pieces of equipment and then sell those pieces to some of the local farmers. In 1973 we became a Killbros Dealer and are the Oldest Dealer in Michigan.
For 17 years I continued to work for Buick until 1979 when I went into the Equipment business and Farming full time. It was a scary time for us there were many struggles along the way, Bad Weather, Poor Economy in the 1980's but one of the hardest was in 1996 when our oldest Son David who was big part of our business was killed in an accident. It was hard to keep going forward, but hard work and perseverance paid off.
In 2015 Our Son Dan has come back home and into the business with us, we are very happy with his hard work and commitment to the Family Farm.
Our Team
Elmer and Marge Gross
Elmer is retired from the Farm equipment business now but still farms full time and also gives helpful advise in the business.
Marge is retired from her many rolls in the business for years and still helps with the farm.
Dan Gross
Dan has been in and out of the company since 1974. He started in the business when he was around 5 years old going to auctions with Elmer learning the ins and outs of buying and selling farm equipment. In his teens he learned many skills of repairs, painting, fabrication, and rebuilds from Elmer and his older brother Dave. He graduated from New Lothrop High School in New Lothrop, Michigan. Then went to serve in the US Army as a Diesel Tech. He then pursued a career as a Diesel tech graduating from Northwestern University in Lima, Ohio. At that point came back into the business for several years after the tragic death of his brother Dave, as it sometimes goes life took him in different direction working as a Diesel tech for many years. He finally has returned home to the business full time in July of 2015 and plans on leading the legacy of Elmer till retiring and handing the family business down to his family!
In January 2021 Elmer & Marge retired and Dan became co-owner. In January of 2022 Dan graduated from American Auction Academy in Dallas,Texas and became a Auctioneer, developing Gross Auction Co. Llc.
Brina Gross
Brina is a new edition to our company. She graduated Coleman High School in Coleman, Michigan. She then went on to pursue a career as an ER tech/patient access clerk for 11 years and recently moved back home to Michigan after living in Wyoming for 7 years. After moving back home she graduated from Delta College as a Medical Biller and Coder. As it goes life took her in a different direction and now works full time in tech department, farm, and many other areas she is needed.
Jeff Spiker
Jeff has been part of our team since June of 1994 after graduating from Chesaning High School in Chesaning, Michigan and being in the US Army as a Diesel tech. Jeff has been a leading factor at repairs, parts department, sales and of course farming!
Dave Gross
Dave was a big part of the success of our business and never will be forgotten for what he did for the business and his family.
He ran the business and farm when Elmer was out on the road and made most repairs and did most of the hauling for years. He spent many hours in the shop making our equipment run to the highest standards, and always had a lot of pride in his work to make everything look better than new, and would not except anything but the best and he has passed those same values down to his brother Dan and Jeff.
Cindy Allen
She has been with us since 2019 and is the mother of brina gross co-owner of our business.
Cindy graduated from Coleman high school where she grew up in Coleman, MI.
She has a college degree in business and data processing. She retired from Dow chemical in 2003 after 35 years of service.
She then worked in Wyoming as an office manager at the American Cancer Society.
Cindy returned to Michigan in 2016 and is now our office manager and we are happy to have her on our team!
Mike Rombach
Mike has an interesting background. he is originally from our area and worked as a state-certified auto mechanic for 5 years after graduating high school.
He then joined the U.S navy where he spent 25 years traveling the world working in the maintenance department.
After retiring from the navy, he spent 22 years working in the maintenance field for several other companies including the Chrysler assembly plant.
Now we are happy to have him here making repairs and performing maintenance as needed.
- May 3 @ 11:00am EDT
- Jun 22 @ 9:00am EDT
