LS Tractor is excited to continue honoring women leaders in the agriculture industry. In April, we would like to recognize Christy McInnis, the president and majority owner of Construction Sales and Service, Inc. This LS Tractor dealership has two locations, one in Andalusia, Alabama and one in Crestview, Florida. Christy is continuing her father’s legacy handling sales for both locations, as well as day to day operations in Crestview.
For as long as she can remember, Christy’s father, Donald Ferguson, worked in the agricultural equipment field. When he returned from the Army in 1969, two years after she was born, he worked as a “clean-up” guy and worked himself up through multiple ranks of service and sales until he and a partner eventually opened their own business, Construction Sales and Service, Inc. in Valparaiso, Florida. At this time, the business was a road development/construction equipment sales company. When Donald’s partner passed in 1994, Donald became 100% owner, and moved the business to Crestview, Florida where the company took on an agricultural equipment focus, but the original name remained Construction Sales and Service, Inc. Donald initially carried the Massey Ferguson tractor line, and when LS Tractor first entered the United States in 2009, he was one of the first dealers to sign with them. Customers who were coming in to purchase Massey Ferguson tractors were soon buying LS Tractors instead. Construction Sales and Service, Inc. (CSS) was one of the top LS dealers at that time.
During those years, Christy’s career path was quite different from where she is today. Christy grew up having a large extended family in Athens, Georgia, and she spent summers and holidays at her grandmother’s home which was surrounded by hundreds of acres of farmland. In some regard, agriculture is all she’s ever known. However, Christy had a deep-rooted yearning to help people, and decided to pursue a career in education. For 30 years, she worked in the education field as an English teacher, school administrator, district administrator, and a national education consultant. In 2017 while consulting part-time, Christy went to her father’s office in Crestview to assist with several government contracts to see if she could help win some awards, and she never left. She not only wrote government contracts, but also assisted with general sales and gradually developed into a leadership role. In 2018 she gave up education consulting altogether, and her father gave her 51% of the shares of the company. CSS became a certified woman owned small business, where Christy is now president, and her father is vice president, owning the other 49% of the business. In 2021 they invested in an opportunity to purchase property in Andalusia, Alabama, about 50 miles north of the original Crestview business location. The stars aligned, and after much reconstruction and renovation, they opened their second store in February, 2022. Christy’s father is now 83 years old, and still remains an active employee as service manager for both stores, with time spent mainly at the Andalusia location. Christy currently handles sales at both locations, and day-to-day operations in Crestview. Though Christy does not serve in public education or consult any longer, she likes to believe her background is what makes her even better at what she does now.
For Christy, educating others about equipment, especially first-time tractor buyers, is a joy. Christy stated, “I always tell customers that I hope they’ll end up purchasing with us because of who we are, what we believe and do, and our commitment to them. At the end of the day, I want them to leave our store more knowledgeable than they were before entering so that they can use that information as they continue to shop around at other stores and with other brands. I’m glad that most of them end up coming back and purchasing with us because of the time I spend with them. I still think of it as having a great impact on learning.” Christy shared that the transition from education to the ag industry was a natural one. She loves learning, and sees herself as a lifelong learner. In this industry, there is something new to learn every day. She has been very fortunate to learn from her father, a very respected man in the equipment industry. Christy and her father are very relationship oriented, and believe that relationships are the center of all things, good and bad. Building long lasting relationships and having a positive impact in some way every day is everything their business is about.
Christy and Donald’s relationships with customers have certainly created two successful and reputable businesses, but LS Tractors have several best-selling features as well. According to Christy, “The fact that LS Tractors come with more standard features than most manufacturers’ tractors on the market makes them an all-around great choice.” She loves to share with potential customers that LS is going to excel in overall operating weight, loader lift capacity and hydraulic flow, which are key factors when considering which tractor is right for you. Another big plus is that on hydrostatic transmission models, there is less operator fatigue when pushing the forward and reverse pedals because they are very smooth and easy to depress. Christy wants everyone to know that LS is a very reliable tractor providing a quality machine at a great value. That is something everyone appreciates. “When LS does national advertising, it helps the brand to grow and helps us grow, but it isn’t just about the advertising. It truly comes back to how customers feel about the equipment and the level of support they get from us. When customers are happy with their tractor and the support they get, that word-of-mouth spreads and we grow.”
Construction Sales and Service, Inc. is now a two-generation business. “People are the heart of everything we do” is how their Mission, Vision, and Core Values document begins. People appreciate that Christy and her father do whatever it takes to help them decide which tractor is best for them. They take care of all the paperwork that is usually dreaded when buying anything new. “We do what we say we are going to do, and we are going to make sure customers get the support they deserve once they take their new tractor home”, Christy says. Their customers truly become part of their family when they shop at their business, and they know they can reach out to them at any time with questions about their tractor. The vision of their business is to be an “industry provider of quality agricultural equipment, parts, and service with uncompromising excellence in customer care and support before, during and after a sale”. This vision statement is the ultimate goal of the business moving forward.
Christy continues to have strong feelings about promoting women in the agriculture industry. She has taken an active role in the National School Board Association on their leadership council, and just returned from Washington, DC where she promoted women in small businesses and the issues they are facing in hopes to gain more support from congress. Christy was also asked to serve on the EDA Women in Industry Leadership Council. On Christy’s desk sits a rectangular wooden block that is painted white, and on each side, a different motivational group of words is printed. Here are a few that define Christy’s beliefs about women in the ag industry, and words by which she lives:
• I can and I will
• Anything but ordinary
• Never be like the rest of them
• Dream big
In essence, women can be and are as much of a knowledgeable resource in this industry as men. Christy said she is proud to be a woman in the ag industry, and she’s even prouder to work alongside her father and learn from him. “I’ve been blessed to stumble upon this and never imagined this is what I would do in my later years, but I am blessed and thankful for the opportunity to educate new buyers of land and equipment, and to be able to show them why shopping with us is a wonderful choice.”
LS Tractor salutes Christy McInnis for her work as an outstanding LS Tractor dealer, her tireless dedication to her customers, and her continued support of women in agriculture. To continue learning about Construction Sales and Service, Inc., or to contact Christy McInnis, please click here to visit their websites for more information. She would love to educate and guide you through your LS Tractor purchase!
Published on April 8, 2025 written by Kimberly Steele