 C. B. HOOBER FARM EQUIPMENT
In 1941 Charles B. (Bud) Hoober signed an agreement to sell International Harvester farm equipment in Intercourse, Pennsylvania. For 10 years the business occupied the frame building on the North side of Route 340 directly across from the current location. In 1951 ‘CB’ built the block building next door and operated from it until 1965.
C. B. HOOBER & SON FARM EQUIPMENT
C. B. Hoober & Son Farm Equipment was formed in 1965, when Bud Hoober took his son, Charles Jr., (Charlie) as a partner. The same year the partnership purchased the empty SkeeCraft Boat Company building on the South side of Route 340 and moved the business to its present location.
It was during this time that Charlie and his wife Sally began raising their family. Two of their children, Chuck and Scott, grew up around the shop and observed the benefits of being involved in agriculture. This too was the time C.B.’s grandson, Bradley D. Hershey, was born and raised as part of a local farm family. After college, all three Chuck, Scott & Brad, chose Hoober as their career and have taken positions of leadership and ownership in the family business.
Sally Hoober, became part of the business as she and Charlie raised their family and juggled the many responsibilities of business leadership and family. Sally continued to be an integral part of the company providing administrative leadership.
In the early sixties IH dealerships in Gap, Honeybrook and other small towns near Intercourse, PA in Eastern Lancaster and Chester Counties went out of business. This opened up other markets for C. B. Hoober & Son. As farms surrounding Intercourse came up for sale, members of the expanding Amish community purchased the properties and Hoober chose to expand its territory to include the Cochranville and Honeybrook areas of Chester County.
While technology revolutionized American farming practices in the early 1970's, government policies opened up world markets to U.S. agricultural products. As farmers expanded their operations to meet the unprecedented demand, they needed larger and more dependable power and tillage equipment.
In 1975, C. B. Hoober & Son set their sites on “Big Farm Power & Equipment” to meet the needs of the increasing size of eastern farmers. They signed contracts to be the sole dealer for Steiger tractors and Krause tillage equipment in the states of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey. Hoober began to sell the larger equipment on the Eastern Shore.
C. B. HOOBER & SON, INC and HOOBER EQUIPMENT INC
In order to tap the Eastern Shore market for 4-wheel drive tractors and large tillage equipment, the partnership purchased a tract of land in Sudlersville, Maryland. So that they could better manage the expected growth this action would generate, the business was incorporated under the name of C. B. Hoober & Son, Inc. in 1975.
Daryl Peifer, C.B.’s son-in-law, joined the operation in 1976 as manager of Sudlersville store and became a partner in Hoober Equipment, Inc.
In 1977 IH introduced its revolutionary Axial Flow rotary combines. Eastern grain operators recognized the benefits of the simple rotary design backed by Hoober’s service. By 1980 C.B. Hoober & Son, Inc. became a major force in the eastern combine market.
HOOBER EQUIPMENT, INC., a subsidiary of C.B. Hoober & Sons, Inc.
In the early 1980’s Hoober Equipment started exploring opportunities to expand and diversify its concentration on 4-wheel drive tractors and large tillage equipment. In 1982 Hoober purchased White Brothers Supply Co., an IH dealer in Middletown, Delaware; closed the Sudlersville, MD location; and consolidated the two businesses at the Middletown location. Hoober Equipment Inc became a subsidiary of C.B. Hoober & Son, Inc. the same year.
In 1979 C.B. Hoober semi-retired and his son, Charles Jr., became president of the company, and Tom Yohe and Dick Bomberger became stockholders and members of C.B. Hoober & Son, Inc’s Board of Directors. When C.B. Hoober died suddenly in 1984, Clarence Lefever, company Controller, also became a stockholder and board member.
In 1986 Charlie Hoober’s eldest son, Chuck, joined the company after graduating from Messiah College and began his employment at the Intercourse store. When Daryl Peifer resigned to further his education in 1989, Chuck Hoober became manager of the Middletown store. Mike Null was appointed Assistant Store Manager and named to the Board of Directors in 1996.
Bradley Hershey, grandson of C.B. Hoober, joined Hoober Equipment as a salesman in 1985. Scott Hoober, another grandson of C.B., son of Charlie Hoober, joined the company fulltime in 1991.
In February 1996 C.B. Hoober & Son, Inc. purchased the assets of Inch Equipment in McAlisterville, PA. This move allowed the Hoober organization a physical presence in the critical used equipment market of Central Pennsylvania. Bradley Hershey moved from Middletown, DE to manage the McAlisterville operation the same year.
HOOBER, INC.
Satisfying a long held desire for a common identification for all its sites, the company changed its name to Hoober, Inc. on January 1, 1998. Daryl Peifer returned to work for Hoober, Inc in 1999 at the Intercourse location and became a member of the Board of Directors.
In July, 2002 Hoober, Inc. purchased the equipment division of Tull Brothers in Seaford, Delaware. This purchase enabled Hoober, Inc. to better service the equipment needs of farmers in the southern Delaware and Maryland area. Mike Null was named Store Manager the same year.
SUCCESSION & REORGANIZATION
Clarence Lefever retired in 2004. Brad Hershey and Daryl Peifer became stock holders the following year. Tom Yohe retired in 2009 and Daryl Peifer became CEO. Charlie Hoober maintained Chairmanship of the Board and Chuck Hoober was elected President. Scott Hoober was elected Secretary/Treasurer. The company expanded the Operating Board to include all store managers, the Controller and Operations Manager. |
