Flieg's Equipment Marks 50 Years In Business

Flieg’s Equipment recently celebrated 50 years in business, although the actual anniversary date is kind of a mystery.

“There isn’t an exact date of when the business began,” Dave Flieg said, “but it was started by my two older brothers, Herb Flieg and Don Flieg as Allis Chalmers equipment dealers.”

Flieg’s is a family owned business that sells a variety of lawn care products, tractors and farming equipment from several different companies.

Flieg’s Equipment has grown from servicing one equipment dealer to eight different equipment dealers including companies like Case IH, Hustler Turf Equipment, Lawn and Garden, Vermeer and Cub Cadet.

Flieg’s Equipment has also grown through expanding their customer radius.

“We cover Ste Genevieve County, Perry County, Jefferson County, St. Francis County and Washington County that makes up roughly an 80 mile radius.” Flieg Said.

Every March, Flieg’s Equipment honors its customers with an appreciation open house celebration with food, drinks and equipment displays. With this year’s celebration as part of the 50^th anniversary, a large crowd attended the event.

“We cleaned our whole shop out and set up for 250 people,” Flieg said, “but there ended up being over 350 people attend.”

He said the party was a great way to show their customers how much they truly appreciated them because without them, the business would not be where it is today.

“In the next 50 years, we would like to keep business as it is,” Flieg said. “We have flourished within the last 25 years because of the right mix of equipment and good personnel, but I am looking forward to handing it over to my daughter, Clarissa Naeger.” Flieg said.

With a large number of Fliegs in the family, Dave Flieg said it will be exciting to watch the third generation become more involved with the business and continue the tradition.

Flieg has learned that loyalty and building personal relationships is important when it comes to customer service.

“Everybody says that keeping your customers is easier and better than finding new customers,” he said. “The No. 1 thing in keeping a business going is to provide good customer service and treat people the way you want to be treated.”

Opinion: To Gap Year or Not to Gap Year?

As college graduation has caught some completely prepared and others completely off guard, one option all grads would be smart to consider is the Gap Year.

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You know that feeling you recently enjoyed when you finished your last test, submitted your last paper, or applied finishing touches on your last project?

Well, enjoy it for as long as you can because now the hard part begins: What to do after graduation.

There are some students who want to apply their degrees and go straight to work, while others aspire to broaden their education with post-graduate studies.

But others decide to take a year off from school, which is known as the gap year.

There are several things to endeavor when taking a year off, but they are only beneficial if the time is used wisely.

Several doors can be opened with opportunity during this year away from school, books, late library nights and insufficient funds.

The gap year gives students a chance to explore the real world entirely outside of a classroom, taking advantage of opportunities to gain real-world experiences.

For example, finding your identity through gaining knowledge on culture, simplifying your goals as far as a career, and giving you the ability to add more to your resume.

Who knows, there is a possibility that you may gain some experience in the career world, and change your mind entirely as far as what area you would like to earn a master’s degree.

Might I add, the gap year is exactly how it sounds -- gap year. Which means, you, as a college graduate, can become involved in several different things that you may not have had time for when attending a four-year university.

“They [students] can return to school with a clear understanding of the opportunity it represents to become an expert in an area the student is truly passionate about and committed to,” Tricia Taorminaj, CEO of a gap year program called Thinking Beyond Borders, said during an interview published in the Huffington Post.

There are several resources that help provide opportunities to utilize a gap year. By seeking and receiving a full-time job position, it would be a good way to fund an abroad program, or pay off student loans.

Furthermore, there are several gap year programs in which graduates have the opportunity to travel abroad, participate in volunteer work and gain real life experiences.

According to the university Career Opportunities program, there are several different options to consider when deciding which path to take after completing an undergraduate degree.

By exploring these options, the graduate can focus on individual strengths.

Another positive outcome when choosing to take a gap year is receiving a job that negotiates tuition costs.

There are several corporations that assist in paying their employees to earn post-graduate degrees. The IRS 11 publication mentions that through written consensus, expenses like tuition, books, supplies and equipment can all be funded through your employer.

Why would employers help you pay for college?

Well, it not only benefits you, but also the company. The website, citytowninfo.com, states: “Some [employers] see opportunity to expand their organization's intellectual and organizational capacity … or [they are] purely after increased employee retention.”

Also, it is more common than not for employers to receive a tax write-off by assisting employees with tuition costs.

Ultimately, it is often cheaper for employers to hire you and pay for higher education than it is to hire an individual who already has a graduate degree due to the fact that they require a higher starting salary for completing a higher form of education.

I recommend considering the gap year because it can be extremely beneficial in several ways.

However, utilizing the time in a beneficial way is the key ingredient for the recipe of success.

If graduation has snuck up on you, it may be reasonable to explore your options rather than head straight to another year of college.

By taking this time off, you can reflect on your accomplishments and strengths to broaden the path to success.

Garden Walks Manages to Get Good Weekend Weather

A weekend filled with flowers, vendors and trolley rides turned out to be a great success for all the plant-lovers in the Ste Genevieve community.

The Annual Garden Walk took place May 18 and 19 and sponsored by the Ste Genevieve County Master Gardeners and the University of Missouri Extension.

 

“Considering the rain out last year, the weather is just right for a great walk through the gardens and great happy makes happy visitors.” Donald Naeger, president of the Master Gardeners said.

The Garden walk offered an opportunity for people to visit 17 gardens, including one newcomer to the event-the Ste. Genevieve County Memorial Hospital’s Oncology Garden at the Alan P. Lyss Center for Cancer Care-and two that returned after a hiatus-Les Fleurs de Gabouri and Hugheys; Hideaway.

The gardens and plant sales consisted of a variety of annuals, perennials and vegetables shared from the participants’ own gardens.

There were also several vendors selling anything from goat milk lotion, honey, plants and pure honey, hand-crafted soaps.

In conjunction with the Garden Walk was the bird house contest, which consisted of 22 entries and awards to nine contestants.

Luke Ritter won first place for his birdhouse while Riley Wolk, Tommy Otle and Chris Loida were the runners up for second place. Dalton Kertz, Hannah Viox, Duncan Basshawn, Blake Pennell and Jack Staab also earned ribbons.

Horse drawn trolley rides, made possible by the Lions Club, were offered on Saturday. The trolley rides traveled through the historic downtown.

Ellie Douglass, the gardener at the Felix Valle State Historic Site, enjoyed sharing samples of lemon verbena cake and mint tea while explaining her history of participating in the garden walk.

“I have been participating in the garden walk every year since it has started and I plan to continue the years to come.” Douglass said.

In addition to tending a beautiful garden, she utilized her plants in different recipes, such as lavender verbena cake with lavender florets, a Persian yogurt soup with dried rose pedals and mint tea.

Ruby O’Driscoll of Ste. Genevieve happily celebrated when her name was drawn for a $50 attendance prize.