Where Are They Now? Omoth enjoys long career in ag repair

Not many people in their 80s get up every morning to work at a full-time job, and not too many fathers can say that they have had a close working relationship with a son for nearly three decades. Milton Omoth has both of these distinctions. He and his son Jim have worked at M & O Ag Repair for 27 years repairing all sorts of farm machinery. The father and son team also runs the adjoining car wash. M & O Ag Repair has an interesting beginning and a long history of service to area farmers.

Milt was born in a house that at one time was the hospital in New Rockford. He attended school in a rural Tiffany township building. He is the youngest and the only survivor of a family of 11 children. Once Milt was on his own, he lived in Casselton, N.D., for a while and went to engine school in Waterloo, Iowa, for two weeks. He then went to Kalispell, Mont., to attend a short one-week course in working on combines.

After working in Montana for a time, Milt was employed in Velva and Lisbon, N.D., before Deb Belquist, who was the Executive Director for Economic Development at the time, approached him about coming back to New Rockford to set up a shop.

In April of 1991, Milt opened the doors of his business to area customers at the old International location behind the Eddy County FSA building.

"The first three years of starting a new business was tough," admits Milt. Beginning an inventory with necessary tools and constantly feeding a wood stove for heat was stressful. Railroad ties by the truckload were dumped by the building, and Milt used a saw that was hooked to one of his tractors to cut the ties to a manageable size for the stove. Milt jokingly remembers, "Funny that place didn't burn down! That creosote would get really hot!" Another heater was used, too, but it took so much gas that Milt decided to rely more on the wood stove.

That building has since been torn down. In early March of 1997 Milt purchased the large building at his current 1024 Central Avenue business location from Charlie Richter and Merv Bjornson. Milt and Jim specialize in repairing engines and transmissions; however, at the time of this interview, Jim was completely restoring the inside of a tractor cab that had seen better days. He was tearing out the insulation down to the bare metal to update the cab.

Late winter and early spring are probably the busiest seasons for Milt, when farmers bring in machinery to be repaired before planting begins. Bright green is the color of much of the machinery that Milt and Jim work on, as John Deere is a popular brand of farm equipment in this area. As the newer models become more and more computerized, Milt says that it is getting increasingly more difficult to work on the engines. He has also noticed that the overall workmanship and quality has changed with time. "The steel used to be stronger," he notes.

Although machinery might be changing with technological advances, Milt's business has not. "We still send out bills the old way, and we have not had problems collecting money throughout the years," he proudly says. Not owning a business computer, Milt mails original bills out and stores the carbon copies in his office. Milt says that one of the more difficult parts of owning a business is getting bills out on time so that his own bills can be paid promptly. Customers who say a sincere "thank you" are the most rewarding aspect of a business, according to Milt.

As an owner of a business, a typical day for Milt starts at 7 a.m. and doesn't end until 6 p.m. Milt used to work on Saturday also. Every night, Milt shuts down the car wash part of his business. The car wash is quite busy even in the winter months.

Before starting the New Rockford business, Milt had farmed and worked as an employee for John Deere implement dealers. Because an employee's hours aren't as demanding as an owner's hours are ("We only worked eight hours a day!"), Milt had time to build his own house in Montana. He also built a home here in New Rockford on Third Avenue North.

Milt's immediate family is made up of wife Marion (Gedrose), daughters Peggy and Kathy, and sons Jim and Kevin. Kathy passed away in October of 1987, and Marion died in October of 2009. Peggy lives in Bismarck, and Jim and Kevin reside here in New Rockford. Kevin, a self-employed carpenter, stores his equipment in part of the M & O Ag Repair building. Milt is delighted that he is grandfather and great-grandfather to 15. Another great-grandchild is expected in April.

During the extensive time that Milt has owned and operated a business, he has learned that giving great customer service is crucial to longevity. That possibly can be said for family members, too! Milt and Jim's operational relationship proves that family members can be satisfactorily employed at the same workplace for many years. This arrangement also says much about a remarkable man who stays "young" by looking forward to his job each and every day.