The Company founder was John Richard Emmett, born at Lang Lang in the Gippsland region of Victoria. Raised on a small dairy farm, and being the second son in a family of three, there was little opportunity to remain on the farm, so on completion of schooling he began employment in the local bank earning a wage of 95 pound per year. Disillusioned with his career prospects in the bank after one year he left the bank to operate a dairy farm on a share basis. During this time he purchased a small tractor, some tillage and hay equipment and operated in a contracting capacity for the local dairy & potato farmers of the area. This business gradually grew and he soon expanded and at times on a seasonal basis employed up to 10 staff during his early 20`s.
In the early 50`s he saw an opportunity for hay baler contracting on the wheat plains of the Wimmera region. Travelling initially to the Nagambie area while searching for straw to supply the markets in Melbourne, he was directed to the west of the state and thereby began his association with the Rupanyup area.
After contacting and negotiating with a farmer on the Lallat Plains he returned to Gippsland and drove a small Fordson tractor (without cab) & NH baler through Central Melbourne up along the old winding Pentland Hills road, travelling day and night until arriving late one Sunday afternoon. Jack often retold the story of going straight to work that night, as the optimum time to bale was when the dew had settled on the straw and how the next day the district was abuzz of lights going around and round this paddock the previous night out on the plains to the west of Rupanyup.
Night work, balers and any work performed on a Sunday, was at that time, quite uncommon for the area. His markets included race horse stables, market gardens, poultry farmers and the Broadford Paper Mill. The contracting business being seasonal was initially run from the old Royal Hotel in Rupanyup. In 1956 seeing the demand for balers and hay equipment growing, he began selling New Holland hay equipment and Chamberlain tractors from a room in a rented shoe store in the main street of Rupanyup.
Emmett Motors was established in 1957 when a local garage and service station was purchased in Cromie Street Rupanyup. It was during this year that he married a Willaura girl, Myra Cooper then a nurse at the Wimmera Base Hospital. Together they raised their family of 5 children in the local community of Rupanyup.
In 1959 Jack was approached by Massey Ferguson (then a major player in the Australian agricultural scene) to market their full line of product. This partnership flourished and many train loads of Massy Ferguson headers, combines, mowers, balers, rakes, scarifiers & tractors etc arrived at the Rupanyup station on a weekly basis.
Horsham Store - 2005
In 1966 the business expanded to Horsham with the purchase of land & the construction of the building located between the old Horsham Foundry & the then Ampol service station. To accommodate the growth of business, the building & site were gradually expanded on, with the purchase of various house blocks in the vicinity. This location worked extremely well over the next 36 years, but with the ever increasing size of farming equipment & limited space within the centre of the city the decision was made to move to a more suitable site in regards to space & access. In 2000 a 2.5Ha site with a 200m frontage to the Western Hwy was purchased on the edge of Horsham and a new dealership premises was completed in 2002
In 1985 the franchise for Massey Ferguson became available for the Warracknabeal area. The company began in rented premises in the former Ryan building on Henty Hwy Warracknabeal. After trading in the Warracknabeal area for 10 years and the support shown from the local community, it was felt that a greater commitment was warranted with a new building to improve service and back-up for the product lines sold.
During the years the company won many awards for sales, topping the national figures on a number of occasions. Along the way other franchises were added to compliment the product line up, including John Shearer tillage & seeding equipment, Jetstream spraying equipment, Grizzly discs and many other one line manufacturers.
Then in 1989 after more than thirty years association with Massey Ferguson this franchise was relinquished, mainly due to a downgrading of the MF product line up world wide, i.e.: no large 4WD tractors or harvesters, from where a majority of our sales came and would come from in the future.
An opportunity arose at this time to take on the John Deere franchise for the Wimmera region of Victoria. In our first year as a John Deere dealer the Emmett group topped the sales figures for one of the four Australian regions and have since established John Deere products in the Wimmera.
Further expansion took place in mid 1999 when an opportunity arose for the Group to secure for the John Deere franchise in the Swan Hill region. Upon being appointed we had to get a business up and running within a 2 month period. The initial dealership premises were located in Karinie Street with the assistance of Wood and Co local Estate Agents, staffed, stocked, financed and opened by 1st January 2000. The business quickly outgrew this temporary site and a new 5Ha (Two adjoining lots of 2.5Ha) site was purchased on the south side of Swan Hill with substantial frontage to the Murray Valley Highway for future development. The remaining adjoining lot is to be retained for future business opportunities.
With the completion of our new dealership premises in January this year on one of these lots, at a total all up cost of over $1.75 million, we have fulfilled a commitment to the Local Farming Community and John Deere to provide modern facilities that will adequately service the Swan Hill and surrounding region for many years in to the future.
The Emmetts Group of companies currently employ approximately 85 staff, trained in sales, service, parts and administration at our five fully linked computerized branches, in Rupanyup, Horsham, Warracknabeal, Beulah & Swan Hill, which covers the greater part of the Victorian Wimmera Mallee districts. We pride ourselves in the long term commitment given by our staff, many with over 10 years and some approaching 30 years service with the company. We have also employed and taught many young people in apprenticeships over the years & have encouraged their development in their chosen careers.
The group of companies is now controlled by the board of directors made up of Jack's 4 sons with Peter Emmett being the overall Group Managing Director. Board meetings are held on a regular basis which includes each of the branch managers. Rick Austerberry was appointed as the Branch Manager of the Swan Hill branch approx 3 yrs ago and has done an exemplary job in establishing the business.
Over the past 40 years, many changes have occurred, none so much as the size of farm holdings, resulting in a rationalization of manufacturers and a drastic drop in the number of farm machinery dealerships Australia wide. These larger service areas need well equipped and stocked service centres such as this new facility that we have provided in Swan Hill. The Emmett Group in partnership with the John Deere franchise for the greater Swan Hill region is well on the way to providing a service to the agricultural community that is second to none.
Franchises now include John Deere tractors, harvesters, hay, lawn and grounds care equipment, Goldacres spray equipment, Westfield augers, Horwood Bagshaw, Morris and Shearer cultivating and seeding equipment, Grizzly discs and Loxton and Leith slashers, Kelly & Phillips Rotary harrows & pickup fronts.
