On May 16, West Side Tractor Sales, the John Deere construction and forestry dealer for northern Illinois, and Indiana, hosted an open house at the new South Holland, Ill., facility. Customers, partners and West Side employees enjoyed a catered lunch from local favorite Hog Wild, participated in JDLink training sessions, toured the new facility and checked out John Deere’s latest and greatest products.

West Side’s new 25,200 sq. ft. facility is located at 150 W. 162nd St., Rt. 6, just down the road from the old building. To accommodate the area’s customer base, the new building features 10 shop service bays equipped with state-of-the-art service tools and equipment, a 4,000 sq. ft. parts department and warehouse, training facilities, and spacious and comfortable areas for West Side employees and customers.

The new building is especially symbolic because Rich Benck, the founder of West Side Tractor, worked for the previous Deere dealer as a technician at its South Holland, Ill., store. Benck eventually purchased the dealership from the previous ownership group. Fifty-two years, many expansions and three generations later, Benck helped design the new building.

This is a full-service facility offering new, used, rental, parts and service support to West Side customers.