As they visited with their fellow Argentine manufacturers about their positive experiences in the US farm market, they were encouraged to assist these other manufacturers in entering that market.

Since they already had a Parts network in the US, it made since to use Tango4 as the vehicle to do this. Most companies enter the market with their products and then work to set up a parts distribution network to support these products. In this case, Tango4 was ahead of the game so customers can purchase products knowing that the parts network is already in place.

The members of Tango4 identified a very respected Argentine manufacturer by the name of Allochis who builds a line of aluminum corn heads. These corn heads are up to 40% lighter than most comparable corn heads on the market today. Allochis has an impressive market share in South America and is distributed in Europe by the Claas Company. Seeing the advantage of these lighter heads to reduce compaction, allow farmers to use larger corn heads at the same weight, allow less trips across the field and lower operating costs, they decided to make this the first product to introduce into the US market.

While visiting their partner in Kentucky, Tango4 members met Ed Webb, President of the World Trade Center of Kentucky, and Webb helped them to get a booth in the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Kentucky to showcase the corn head. Webb encouraged them to make Kentucky their base and to establish not only their North American Parts Distribution Center near Louisville, but to also establish their assembly plant in the Louisville area which would put their parts depot within thirty minutes of the UPS Air world-wide hub in Louisville for fast parts deliveries to dealers and bring jobs to the area. The equipment comes to Louisville partially assembled in containers and then final assembly is done by US Workers at the Louisville site. So, US jobs are created at the parts and assembly sites plus as the dealers sign on to offer access of these innovative products to their farmer customers, they will add profit and more jobs to their businesses, so everyone wins. This was very important to the Tango4 members as some of them are now checking into gaining US Citizenship so they can have dual US and Argentina citizenship. This is the type of people that they are.

During the show, Webb introduced them to Sam Lawson and his daughter, Jean-Marie Lawson, who own Lawson Marketing, Inc., and have extensive experience in the North American Farm Equipment Market. Sam Lawson is President of Lawson Marketing, Inc. Prior to Lawson Marketing, Inc., Sam Lawson was President/CEO, Hartland Equipment, a John Deere Dealership with locations throughout Central Kentucky. Additionally, he was President of United Farm Tools, a farm equipment manufacturing company that made no-till drills, peanut diggers, rotary cutters and built grain carts for John Deere, and President of Lawson Implement, an International Harvester Dealership with locations throughout Central Kentucky. Lawson graduated from Western Kentucky University with a B.S. in Agriculture and has been in the farm equipment business for thirty-seven years. Lawson is a founding member of the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board (he is the representative for Kentucky's Chamber of Commerce on the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board), the Kentucky Agricultural Council (he is the representative for Kentucky's Chamber of Commerce), Governor's Council of Economic Advisors, Kentucky Agriculture Heritage Center Board, and has been a member of the EQUIP Dealer Advisory Board, the WKU Gordon Ford College of Business Advisory Board, International Harvester's National Dealer Advisory Committee and John Deere's JDIS National Dealer Advisory Committee. He is the past president of the Kentucky Farm Equipment Dealers Association, the Kentucky FFA Foundation, the Kentucky FFA Alumni Association, Western Kentucky University's Agriculture Alumni Association, and the Alpha Gamma Rho Alumni Association. He is a member of the Louisville Agriculture Club and WKU Alumni Association.  The Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce recognized him as the 2003 Agri-Business Person of the Year and the Jefferson County 4-H awarded him the 2011 4-H Roy Gibson Corporate Citizen Award.

Jean-Marie Lawson is VP/Marketing for Lawson Marketing, Inc. Prior to Lawson Marketing, Inc., Lawson was VP/Marketing for Hartland Equipment. She has fourteen years of experience in business, sales, governmental affairs, marketing, development, advertising and strategic public relations in both the public and private sectors. Lawson has managed a $500,000 annual marketing budget, hosted a weekly radio show, helped build a children's hospital development office, worked in a public-private partnership and generated over $500,000 annual private commitments. She graduated from Western Kentucky University with a B.A. in Corporate and Organizational Communication with emphasis in Marketing and was a scholarship student-athlete on the Western Kentucky University Women's Golf Team.   Lawson is a 2002 Leadership Bowling Green Graduate, 2005 Focus Louisville (hosted by Louisville Leadership Center) Graduate and 2011 Kentucky Agricultural Leadership Program Class IX Graduate. She serves on the Communication Committee for the Kentucky Agriculture Heritage Center, Public Awareness Committee for the Kentucky Agricultural Council and is the Executive Director of the Kentucky Farm Women Field Day. She is involved in many organizations across the Commonwealth including Kentucky Women in Agriculture, Louisville Agriculture Club, Friends of the Louisville Zoo, WKU W-Club and WKU Alumni Association. She was awarded the 2011 Continued Excellence Award from the Kentucky Women in Agriculture.

After several meetings, including a trip to Argentina to visit the manufacturing plants, attend AgroExpo Argentina and to meet with Argentina government officials, Lawson Marketing, Inc., was selected to represent Tango4 in the US and Canada to establish a dealer organization to sell and service these innovative machines. They set out immediately developing a Dealer Agreement, Floor Plan Financing Agreements, Brochures and all of the other infrastructure required to do business with the very best dealers in the US and Canada.   Lawson Marketing, Inc., is now setting up dealers across the US and Canada and welcome any inquiries from prospective dealers. Although they are working an introduction plan to add such lines as a Self-Propelled Sprayer, a machine to store grain in a bag, a grain drill line which also has an attachment to plant corn (either plate or air) so only one machine would be required to do both jobs, a round baler and a vertical grinder-mixer, the aluminum corn head will be featured at the Farm Progress Show in August where farmers can see this new technology. Jean-Marie Lawson said, "The Farm Progress Show is a great place to showcase this innovative technology for our farmers because it has both a booth and field demonstrations so the farmers can see the machines working in the field. It's like having a personal demonstration for everyone who attends."

So, bringing in new technology from Argentina to offer to the US and Canadian farmers can help these farmers become more efficient in their operations and can also help grow more jobs for US and Canadian workers. We can also learn more about our neighbors and develop new friendships as we grow. Not a bad thing in today's world.

Tango4, one of the companies that Lawson Marketing, Inc., represents, will be featured during the 2012 Farm Progress Show! If you plan to attend the show, August 28-30, 2012, near Boone, Iowa, please come by booth 571 and check-out this exciting new corn head!

For more information about Lawson Marketing, Inc., visit http://lawsonmarketingconsultants.com and http://www.facebook.com/#!/LawsonMarketingInc. For more information about Tango4, visit http://tango4.net.  

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