Steve Connelly

RDO Equipment Company's Steve Connelly, vice president of Midwest agriculture, and Mark Kreps, vice president of sales — Agriculture were killed in a two-vehicle crash on Aug. 19, 5 mi. west of Groton, S.D.

Mr. Connelly was responsible for providing leadership to all agriculture stores in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Mr. Connelly started his career with RDO Equipment Co. 17 years ago as a general manager in the Red River Valley. Before joining RDO Equipment Co., he was an instructor at Moorhead High School, as well as the head football coach.

He received his undergraduate degree from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., and a master's degree from South Dakota State University. He was active in his community and served on many boards, including the Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom (MAITC) Foundation Board of Directors and The Village Family Service Center's Board of Directors.

Mr. Kreps was responsible for overall sales strategy and execution across the Agriculture division. In addition, he had responsibility for International agriculture sales and wholesale marketing.

Mr. Kreps had nearly 30 years of sales and management experience. He started his career with RDO Equipment Co. 25 years ago in a sales capacity for the Red River Valley stores. In 1997, he became a store manager, and in 2001, began leading the Core Accounts team and serving customers across the agriculture region.

R.D. Offutt Company Statement Regarding Steve Connelly, Mark Kreps

Today, the entire RDO Family is grieving the loss of two of our senior leaders, Steve Connelly and Mark Kreps. Their leadership, together and independently, has been instrumental to the success of our organization.

Steve knew the name of every member of his team, gladly shared credit with all of them and touched so many lives in our organization and our community as a mentor, friend and coach.

I worked with Mark my entire career at RDO. For 25 years, Mark built lasting and meaningful relationships with customers and team members all over the world. He was always enthusiastic, terrifically creative, and dedicated to the success of his customers.

Our hearts grieve for their family and friends. We are grateful for the years we had working with and learning from Mark and Steve, and we are much better because of it.

~ Christi Offutt, chair of the R.D. Offutt Company

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