Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Born in the small community of Woodville in Bertie County in 1937, Jack Mitchell played both baseball and basketball in high school. His plan after graduating from college was to teach and be a coach. But as things can happen, those plans took a complete 180.

“Woodville is a very small town,” said Mitchell. “My daddy was a chief engineer for Harrington Manufacturing, and I worked with him a lot while growing up. I ended up going to military school for one year on a scholarship and finished up at ECU with a BS and AB in business.”

Mitchell already had a job lined up with IBM as soon as he graduated, but that changed after a conversation with a friend of his father’s.

“My daddy had a friend that worked for International Harvester that I had met a couple of times when I was a kid,” said Mitchell. “Right before graduation, his friend asked me to drop by and see him. I met with him for about 30 minutes, and he talked me into going to work for them,” he said with a big chuckle. “I was supposed to have started work for IBM the Monday after Easter, but instead, I was headed to International Harvester to start work for them on that same day.”

Mitchell started as a sales trainee and quickly made his way up the ladder and became a district manager at 28, making him the youngest in management at the time. The promotion required a lot of traveling and time away from his wife and four-year-old daughter. He was contemplating leaving the company and doing something else.

“The bottom line is they didn’t want me to go,” said Mitchell. “So, they offered me a dealership. In December of 1966, I came to Washington and said this is home. International Harvester helped me get started, and I opened my business at the corner of 2nd and Hackney Streets in 1967. We remained at that location until 1982, when I purchased the building we are in now at an auction sale, at the corner of Bridge and 15th streets.”

Mitchell remained with International Harvester until it finally filed for bankruptcy and closed for good in 1985. “International Harvester was a sweet company to work for as it was the third or fourth largest in the world at the time,” said Mitchell. “It was a very rewarding experience and a great ride over the years. My decision to go to work for them rather than IBM wasn’t easy, but I felt International Harvester would always be there. I told folks opportunity doesn’t come a knocking but once or twice in your life, and you have to take it.”

By 1992 Mitchell was bought out by Case/International Harvester and has continued his business with Kubota ever since.

Mitchell has seen a lot in his 58 years in the business here in Washington. And the changes, as he pointed out, have been many. “Back when we first started, there were probably seventy to eighty farmers in Bertie and Beaufort County, and now it is about twenty percent of that,” said Mitchell. “There were many farmers along Slatestone Road here in Washington. We could count on selling them 18-20 tractors each year. Now, there are probably only four to five farmers along those same roads. I’m also proud to say that in the late 70s, I had the largest retail sales for International Harvester in the U.S. We sold 100 tractors and 30 combines to First Colony Farms here in North Carolina.”

Perhaps the biggest changes, added Mitchell, are the size of the farms, the technology, and the price of equipment. “There are fewer farms, but they are also much bigger as they continue to buy out the smaller farms,” said Mitchell. “It is hard to keep up with all of the new technology, and the price of equipment has gone up tremendously. Several years ago you could purchase a new combine for $12,000-$14,000. Today that same combine will cost you around a half million dollars.”

Mitchell said he really has no regrets, even though he thought he wanted to be a coach and teacher.

“This is a long way from that initial dream,” said Mitchell. “But, I’m glad I didn’t do that in a way. After having done this for so many years, I don’t really think I had the desire to do anything else but this. I owe all of my success to my wife and daughter, the employees I have had over the years, and my loyal customer base. They are the ones that have kept us going. I don’t deserve any of the credit.”