From the New York Times, November 26, 1984:
November 26, 1984
BUSINESS PEOPLE
BUSINESS PEOPLE; A Dealer for Harvester Awaits Sale to Tenneco
For weeks Robert P. Corley, an International Harvester Company farm equipment dealer near Decatur in central Illinois, has heard rumors about the impending sale of Harvester's agricultural equipment division to Tenneco Inc.
Mr. Corley now awaits the official announcement of the transaction, expected today. Later this week, he will join other Harvester dealers at company-sponsored meetings in Dallas to learn the terms of the combination.
The 47-year-old equipment dealer, who has been associated with Harvester in various capacities for 25 years, is looking at the marriage with Tenneco's J. I. Case division with some trepidation.
Pointing out that the president of Harvester's farm equipment group moved over to head a similar unit at Tenneco earlier this year, Mr. Corley said, ''My concern is that his blood is Case orange now, while ours is Harvester red.''
''There's got to be some method of maintaining the Harvester identity after the combination,'' Mr. Corley added. ''Some dealers have $2,500 to $7,000 of their own money invested in their International Harvester sign alone.''
Mr. Corley grew up on a farm in Shelby County, Ill., where his father farmed and sold Harvester equipment part-time. After attending Eastern Illinois University, Mr. Corley took his first job with Harvester in 1959, unloading railroad cars. He moved into sales positions with the company in the mid-1960's, until he tired of the travel and decided to settle down with his family.
In 1968, he bought an interest in the Sullivan, Ill., dealership he now owns. After several tough years, Mr. Corley said his business took off in the 1970's.
''We wouldn't be here today if not for those good years in the 70's,'' he said. However, he is now saddled with excess capacity from steady expansion in that period. A building he erected in 1979 to assemble combines has never been used, and interest payments on his $750,000 inventory of farm equipment are eating away at his savings.
Mr. Corley said he probably sold 35 new, large tractors annually 10 years ago, each costing from $16,000 to $18,000. ''This year, maybe I've sold five large tractors, each costing about $35,000,'' he said.
Despite the gloom in the farm economy, Mr. Corley said that if the Government avoids embargoing grain and if interest rates come down two or three points, there might be a resurgence in farm equipment sales.
''We've got to be eternal optimists in this business,'' he said.
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