Training Seminar for Ag Business Professionals

By Jean Teller
Published on January 28, 2010
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Niche farmers hope to increase profits through networking and growing beautiful fields of lavender.
Niche farmers hope to increase profits through networking and growing beautiful fields of lavender.
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Both bees and lavender could be used to make a living farming a niche.
Both bees and lavender could be used to make a living farming a niche.

For a small-business owner, a niche farmer, or someone looking for a way to keep the homestead solvent, a professional seminar may be just the ticket. Hays, Kansas, was recently the site of one such seminar, Kansas MarketPlace, co-sponsored by the Center for Rural Affairs, Lyons, Nebraska, and the Kansas Commerce Department’s Rural Development Division.

The event, patterned after several successful events in Nebraska, drew a crowd of close to 250 participants, exhibitors and sponsors.

“The turnout for Kansas MarketPlace demonstrates that rural people are resourceful and are looking for ways to create a better future for their families, their communities, and their farms, ranches and mainstreet business,” says John Crabtree, media director for the Center for Rural Affairs (CFRA). “We are excited to have brought this diverse group of people together, and we are looking forward to continuing to learn from one another about new ways of overcoming the challenges we face in our rural communities.”

“The goal for the event was to support entrepreneurial development in rural Kansas,” says Kathie Starkweather, CFRA’s director for rural opportunities and stewardship program, “through professional seminars that met small business owners’ needs and networking with other small businesses and organizations with tools and programs for small-business needs.”

Two keynote speakers – Andrew McCrea and Don Landoll – provided personal insight into small business. McCrea, a farmer/rancher and award-winning radio broadcaster from Maysville, Missouri, brought his unique perspective and folksy humor to the group, talking about networking and rural entrepreneurship. In his experience, much of networking is just being good people, and that networking, while it won’t replace advertising, can be a great boost to small businesses.

Don Landoll owns Landoll Corp., now an internationally known manufacturer of heavy equipment trailers and other equipment. The Marysville, Kansas, business began as a two-man welding operation and has expanded to employ 540 people in buildings housing more than 450,000 square feet of manufacturing space. Landoll sees his company’s success coming from quality products, quality people and quality customers.

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