R.G. Mazer Group Partners

Bob Mazer

Bob Mazer, born in 1950, started his love for agriculture on the farm in Radville, Saskatchewan. His family moved to Brandon, Manitoba where his father established a Massey Ferguson dealership. After leaving school in 1968, Bob started farming with the purchase of 480 acres while helping his father in the dealership.

In 1971 Bob’s vision of the future of agriculture, larger farms gaining economies of scale, lead him to apply for the Versatile Farm Equipment contract for Brandon after seeing their first four wheel drive tractor. 1975 saw Bob with his brother Ed purchase the Massey Ferguson dealership from their father.

In an effort to reduce overhead and competition Bob purchased the New Holland store combining operations with Massey Ferguson and Versatile while Ed left the partnership to become the John Deere dealer in Brandon. From 1988 to the present Bob has merged with other New Holland dealerships forming a 13 location group focusing on the New Holland brand and now CNH.

As past chair of Versatile’s dealer council and twice past chair of New Holland North America dealer council, Bob believes in the focused partnership between manufacturer and dealership.

Utilizing the partnership model, Bob started many other businesses during this time including: Harvest Salvage (a combine wrecking/salvage yard), Priority Ag & Auto (parts supply store), Hondaland (a Honda automotive dealership), Town Centre (Brandon’s downtown mall) and Remington’s Steak and Seafood Restaurant to name a few.

Bob not only is involved in machinery sales and service but also farms giving him a unique empathy and understanding of the producer economies. His humble beginnings with 480 acres expanded to 6,000 acres of grain farming before converting to 1,100 acres of processing potatoes in 1999.

Giving back to the community is a major portion of Bob’s lifestyle. He has served as Chairs of Brandon Chamber of Commerce, Brandon Economic Development Board, and Assiniboine Community College. Currently Bob sits on the board of the Business Council of Manitoba. His achievements have been recognized through awards including Brandon Chamber of Commerce “Business Person of the Year” in 1998 and two-time recipient of Manitoba Business Magazine’s “Business Recognition” awards.

Bob is married to Patti (26 years) and has two sons Jonathan (24) and Andrew (22), both at Brandon University in Business Degree courses with an ‘eye’ toward the future with the Group.
 

Dale Shepherd

Born and raised in a small community some 100 km west of Brandon he grew up involved in a mixed farm operation and carried on within the industry.

From 1969 to 1971 he was employed by Morris Industries, a well respected seeding and tillage manufacturer in western Canada in a marketing capacity. Four years later he began a three year career with Massey Ferguson Industries as District Sales Manager before returning to Morris Industries in various capacities including District Manager, Retail Store Manager, Manager of Retail Operations, Dealer Development Manager, and Export Marketing Manager involving extensive travel, as well as junior observer to the Morris Board of Directors.

In November 1988, a restructuring of Mazer Implements created an opportunity and he was introduced as General Manager. In 1994, he became a partner in the first partnership location in what is now known as The RG Mazer Group, and currently involved as a partner in 10 of the 12 locations now operating under that umbrella. In addition, Dale is a major shareholder in a 12,000 head feedlot. He has, on two occasions, served on New Holland Dealer Council.

All 36 years in the workforce have been Ag related / marketing orientated and he continues to be actively involved in many aspects of the industry.
 

Dennis White

Presently Dennis is the Sales Manager for Atkinson Implements. He was born in Hartney, MB, and started to work at Atkinson Implements setting up farm machinery while he attended high school. He completed the Heavy Duty Mechanics program at Assiniboine Community College, and went on to work in truck repair both in Brandon and Calgary, Alberta. In 1982, Dennis returned to Hartney to work at Atkinson Implements. He and Bruce Evans were given the opportunity to become partners in the business, and shortly thereafter they partnered with Bob Mazer to become the beginning of the RG Mazer Group.

Wally Butler

Born in Birtle Manitoba, Wally spent the first years of his life on the registered Angus farm his father and grandfather were operating close to Solsgirth. When his grandfather had a heart attack, Wally’s dad changed careers to become a teacher. Most of Wally’s life was spent growing up in Erickson prior to obtaining his Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Manitoba.

Wally choose Chartered Accountancy as his career path by starting his articling with Johnson & Glennie in Minnedosa then moving to Winnipeg and completing his designation with Touche Ross in Winnipeg.

“In 1997, Moving to Brandon and joining The R.G. Mazer Group was the best life and career decision I have made” he says.

Wally and Kathryn have 2 young children, Camryn (4) and Nate (2).

Bruce Evans

Bruce was raised on the family farm at Holland, Manitoba. In 1972, he married his wife Sharon and together they started their family; Darwin, Keith, Trisha, and Kim. In 1981 Bruce began working at Atkinson Implements, relocating the family to Hartney where the Evans family has become extremely active in the community. Bruce’s involvement in Hartney and District sparked an interest in politics; he served as Town Councilor from 1998 – 2002 before becoming Mayor of Hartney in 2002, a position he continues to hold.

When the opportunity arose to join as a Partner in the R.G. Mazer Group in 1994, Bruce jumped at the chance to be involved in what he sees to be one of the strongest working relationships in the agricultural industry. Agriculture has been the cornerstone of Bruce’s life, and he is proud to have a son and a daughter working alongside him in the dealership.
 

Denys Usunier

Denys Usunier got his start in the farm machinery business in 1967, helping out at his fathers Cockshutt dealership in Carnduff, SK. With the exception of 2 years in the Alberta oil patch, he has been in the farm equipment business ever since.

His association with New Holland began in 1984 at the New Holland Company store in Brandon MB. In 1995, Denys, along with partners Bob Mazer and Dale Shepherd purchased Bayes Equipment Neepawa. In 1997 the partnership purchased Worralls Garage in Ste. Rose du lac. Denys and his wife Val, who also works in the dealership, have 2 children, Justin and Jennifer.

Dwight Shepherd

Dwight Shepherd is partner and GM at Shepherd Implements in Shoal Lake and Roblin, Manitoba.  He was raised on a mixed farm operation west of Elkhorn, Manitoba.

Dwight became an auctioneer and worked the markets in Brandon, Saskatoon, Swift Current, Tompkins, Climax, Piopot, and Maple Creek, Sask.
He began working in the farm equipment industry in 1979 as a district manager for an equipment manufacturer.  In 1996, he was the Canadian sales manager and manager of retail operations, but began to miss the personal contact with the farm community, eventually deciding to get into a dealership.  With his son and granddaughter in Winnipeg and his daughter and son-in-law farming at Beulah, he and his wife of 32 years, Val, saw Manitoba as an ideal choice.

In all the years spent in this industry, Dwight recognized that New Holland and their dealers always had a great reputation.  Then, says Dwight, "along came Bob Mazer with a vision of the R.G. Mazer Group."

In 1998 Val and Dwight moved to Shoal Lake and opened Shepherd Implements as part of the R.G. Mazer Group.  In April of 2003, they purchased the Roblin dealership, retaining almost all of the existing staff and adding more to service their growing customer base.

Shepherd Implements have, for the past four years straight, won New Holland's "Dealer Standards" Awards for sales, service, and parts excellence. They are one of only a handfull of New Holland dealers in western Canada to accomplish this feat.  "Our customers have allowed us to supply a superior product, provide outstanding service and stock quality parts," says Dwight. "Without your tremendous support we could not have done any of this. Thank You!"

Bill Harkness

Bill grew up on the family farm at Kisbey, Saskatchewan. While attending high school, he worked several off-farm jobs, including a job one of the largest PMU operations of the time, and one summer on the custom harvest run.

After high school he worked for the New Holland dealer in Carlyle, SK for three years before moving to Manitoba to become the service manager at New Holland Portage.  After two years in Portage, Bill moved to Brandon and accepted the New Holland service representative position for Manitoba and part of Saskatchewan.

In 1979 Bill, along with two partners, purchased the NH dealership in Crystal City, which they operated until 2001 when they joined the RG Mazer Group and Lakeside Implements.  From 1981 to 1984, they also operated the Neepawa dealership.  Altogether, Bill has spent over 34 years with the New Holland brand.

Bill and his wife Carol live on an acreage near Pilot Mound.  In his spare time, Bill enjoys flying, spending time at the lake in the summer, and skiing in the winter.
 

Dennis Brownlee

Dennis is the Fixed Operations Manager for Blight Equipment in Portage la Prairie.

He joined the R.G. Mazer Group with the opening of Blight Equipment in October 2005. He invested the assets of Portage New Holland Ltd., a business he had owned since 1991, in the Blight equipment venture. Prior to purchasing and managing Portage New Holland Ltd., Dennis spent 19 years with New Holland as a territory manager, plus several other positions. Dennis is a past president of the Portage and District Chamber of Commerce and is vice chairman of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce. In his leisure time he enjoys golfing, curling, and country music concerts. He and his wife Barb have two grown children, daughter Erin and son Jason, both of whom have left home and are pursuing their own careers.

Jon Low

Jon grew up on his family's farm in Foxwarren, MB with his mother Marlene, father Jack, and older brother Chris. They farmed grain & oilseeds. It eventually grew to about 4200 acres in size. After he graduated high school, Jon took a couple years off from school and worked on the farm as well as Paterson Grain in Binscarth, MB. He then returned to school and graduated with his diploma in Agriculture in 1999. After short stints with Agricore in Starbuck and AgPro in Winnipeg and Brandon, his father passed away from cancer. Jon then had to decide whether to return to the family farm or pursue other interests. With his brother Chris down south playing minor pro hockey and his mother a teacher, it would have been all he could handle at the age of 21. He met with Dwight Shepherd, who was the New Holland dealer in Shoal Lake, who offered him a job in sales. Jon jumped at the opportunity.

After a few years in sales, and meeting a lot of new faces, Dwight needed to lighten his load in paper work, and offered Jon a position as Business Manager. "At this time in life all things were going my way, and I married my lovely wife Natalie on January 15th, 2005," he says. In the fall of 2005, he was given the opportunity to become a partner in the R.G. Mazer Group by coming to Portage la Prairie and becoming the Business Manager of the first CaseIH / New Holland dual-brand dealership in Manitoba. He joined the partnership at the same time as Dennis Brownlee, who came from Portage New Holland, and Marv Nicholls, who was a partner at Lakeside Implements and came to Portage as the general manager. Jon knew previous owner Don Blight’s family very well through his mother's side of the family, who live a ½ hour away in Elm Creek. Since coming to Portage la Prairie, Jon has met many new faces, and he enjoys learning about the diverse ways of farming in the Central Plains. His wife Natalie is a teacher in the Portage la Prairie School Division and has also enjoyed the move to this community. Jon's main interests outside of the farm industry are golf in the summer and hockey in the winter.
 

John Zasitko

Jon grew up in a small town in the Interlake on the family farm, and now resides in Arborg. He started in the agricultural industry as a mechanic and eventually graduated to the sales end of the business. In 2001, Jon was approached by Bob Mazer to become a managing partner in the Arborg location, and the rest is history. Arborg Implements has been in business now for six years.

In his free time, Jon likes to help out friends on their farms, hunt, snowmobile, and be involved in many other activities.

Brian Barylski

Growing up in Arborg on the family farm begat Brian’s interest in the agricultural field. At the age of 14, he began working at the local New Holland dealership, Drabik Implements, during the summer and after school. In 1986, after graduation, he took on the position of parts manager. In 1993, the dealership was taken over and named Midlake Equipment, where Brian maintained his position. In 2001, the R.G. Mazer Group took over the dealership, renaming it Arborg Implements. Brian “was honoured to be asked to be a partner of this very successful group.” At that time, he was appointed both assistant general manager and parts manager.

“I am very proud to have been part of the New Holland organization for 25 years. With this great experience, I have been able to achieve much knowledge and many goals,” he says.

Brian and his wife Bev have been married since 2000. In January 2006, their daughter Brooke was born.

In his spare time, Brian currently grain farms. He enjoys spending time with his family and friends, snowmobiling, camping, curling, and baseball.
 

Terry DeBaets

Terry was born in Balder Manitoba, and grew up on a dairy and grain farm.  After graduating from Baldur High School in 1984, he moved to Winnipeg and began working for a John Deere agricultural dealership.  That dealership became a dedicated turf & landscape equipment dealer in 1988.  In December of 2003, Terry and longtime friend Dave Brick joined the R.G. Mazer Group and created Tamarack Equipment, serving the turf & landscape market. 

Terry and his wife Tammy have two boys; Andrew, age 20, and Devin, age 13.  In his spare time, Terry enjoys hunting and snowmobiling.
 

David Brick

David Brick is an after-sales manager at Tamarack Equipment in Winnipeg, MB.

Dave describes as fortunate his opportunity to join the R.G. Mazer Group in 2004 with the opening of Tamarack Equipment. “It was a painful two weeks bleeding the ‘Green Paint’ out of me, but a worth while venture!” he says. Tamarack specializes in the Toro Golf and New Holland Landscape equipment business in Manitoba and Northwest Ontario.

David grew up on his family’s farm in the Oak Bluff area near Winnipeg. He spent many years working on the dairy farm, and at a local ag dealer. He has three boys, all very active in sports. The oldest, Aaron, works during the summer at Tamarack Equipment. Dave’s hobbies include hunting, fishing, and golf.
 

Denny Bouchard

Denny's grew up on his family's farm near Deleau, MB. After high school at Hartney, he started working full time in Virden at Kent Flour Mills. Denny spent five enjoyable years at the mill, advancing from flour bagger to mill superintendent. However, his life long interest was to work in sales and marketing, and he eventually moved to Brandon to work in sales with Kelleher Ford.

The next three years saw the launch of Denny's sales career. Light cars and trucks led to highway and vocational heavy trucks. Then, a new challenge was presented: selling construction equipment. Denny accepted the challenge and spent the next nine and a half years as a sales rep for Brandt Tractor Ltd. Then, in the spring of 2005, Bob Mazer and partners proposed joining their team to further their efforts with New Holland Construction Equipment. A few months later, in June, Mazergroup Construction Equipment was born. As partner and general manager of this new venture, along with 12 locations, Mazergroup Construction Equipment has quickly become a strong choice in the Manitoba market!