Star City Six – Evan Welch
Sandhills Global is an international information processing company that focuses on serving the farm equipment, construction equipment, truck and trailer, and aviation industries. Evan Welch is the director of new product sales at Sandhills Global and manager of AuctionTime.com.
Tell us a little about your business.
We bring buyers and sellers together, whether that be through a retail, wholesale, or auction channel. With that fundamental focus in mind, we have created an array of different products to help enable the process of buying and selling and make it as efficient as possible. Our focus is in the construction equipment, farm equipment, aircraft, recreational vehicle, and over the road truck and trailer industries, but our depth in those extends out to many different niches within each market. For example, we have a product in the construction industry specifically geared toward the crane market called CraneTrader.com.
How did you get started in the business?
I started as a sales intern back in 2005 for our construction magazine and website, MachineryTrader.com.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced professionally?
The development of our auction products, specifically AuctionTime.com, was the biggest challenge I’ve faced professionally. The product itself took years to get off the ground and wouldn’t have been possible without the effort of the entire team. From sales to IT, the amount of man hours and effort put into the product is almost unimaginable when you look back at it.
Tell us a little about your family.
My wife Lacey and I met at Sandhills, actually. We both started as sales interns for MachineryTrader.com on the same day. She now stays at home with our three kids, Camden (10), Ava (7), and Cade (3).
What is your favorite thing to do on a day off?
We are a competitive family so, typically, it’s something around sports. Whether that be going to sporting events for my kids or playing sports casually, that’s how most of my free time is spent.
What is your favorite quote or the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
“It’s never as good as it seems, and it’s never as bad as it seems.” I think it just keeps everything in perspective. Don’t ever think you are at the top or untouchable because you’re not, and you have to try to get better every day. Conversely, when things are going bad, they are probably much worse in your head than they are in reality.
If you could choose only one descriptive word to be remembered as, what would it be?
Positive. If you keep a positive attitude, good things will happen.
What is your favorite book or the last good book you read?
My favorite book is The Presidents Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity by Michael Duffy and Nancy Gibbs. Each chapter is dedicated to the relationship between two different former Presidents. It’s fascinating to see how they interacted with each other and which ones had close relationships despite having differing opinions.
What is your favorite TV show?
I’m into crime shows so I would go with Mindhunter on Netflix.
If you could have dinner with one famous person from the past or present, who would it be?
Ronald Reagan. Politics aside, he was so charismatic and was a true outsider when he came into politics.
If our readers would like to contact you, how should they do so?
(402) 458-4627; evan@auctiontime.com; www.sandhills.com; AuctionTime.com.