Many of you know our ag banking team
professionally, but how much do you know
about them personally? In each issue we will
spotlight a different team member and share
some fun facts!
Name: Chris Schneider
Title: Vice President - Ag Lending
Education: Attended UW - River Falls
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Years ag banking experience: 10
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What is one of your favorite quotes?
“Luck is when preparation meets
opportunity.”
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If you could choose anyone, who
would you pick as your mentor?
Ronald Schneider or Roger Schneider.
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What are your favorite sports?
Football, hunting and fishing.
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If you could learn to do anything,
what would it be? Read minds.
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What chore do you absolutely hate
doing? Washing the car.
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What was your favorite food when
you were a child? Steak.
Successful farm operators have to juggle many duties and responsibilities
on a day-to-day basis to make sure their farms are operating at peak performance. Rarely, if ever, does the concept of succession planning come up
on the daily “to do” list. As a result, this process often gets pushed aside in
favor of more pressing issues and tasks, and it becomes difficult to find the
time to engage in a timely and effective planning process. That being said,
a well thought out succession plan can help bring in the next generation of
management and keep the farm business flourishing for decades to come.
Succession planning might mean different things to different people. In
general it is the process of developing a plan for each key management
position within the organization so that if and when the manager is no
longer willing or able to carry out his/her responsibilities for any reason,
a successor can readily be put in place.
Since this isn’t an exercise that most farm business owners have much
experience in, it often takes help from trusted advisors to get it right.
Attorneys, tax professionals and bankers are often needed at the table to
help make sure all relevant issues are being thought about. Many people
think of succession plans in terms of legal agreements, tax planning strategies, ownership transfers, life insurance, etc. But the really important
aspects of succession planning are the tough conversations, assessment of
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strengths and weaknesses, letting go and growing into new roles. Here are
some additional things to think about:
Get started as soon as possible. There’s no time like the present to begin
thinking about and developing a plan. Whether there are multiple generations working in the farm business or a single farm family with no obvious
successor, the issue of transitioning the business to the next owner(s) or
manager(s) is critically important. The longer this issue goes unaddressed,
the less likely it is that the results will be satisfactory to all.
Open, honest communication. All parties need to be willing to clearly
and honestly communicate their expectations so that plans can be made
without hidden agendas interfering.
Farming doesn’t end at 5 p.m., so why
should your banking services? Investors
Community Bank offers Remote Deposit
Capture (RDC) — it’s like having a bank
teller right on your farm! With RDC you
have the following benefits:
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Convenient: Make deposits 24/7.
Save time: Checks get to your account
faster, without mail delays.
Streamline cash flow: Make deposits
from any remote office and consolidate deposits from multiple locations.
Save money: No courier fees or trips
to the bank.
Reduce check fraud: Checks are
deposited faster to help spot fraud and
speed up collection.
Secure: System has multiple security
layers.
Meaningful skills assessment. When working on a plan for management succession, it’s crucial to honestly assess the skills of the potential
successor(s) matched against the skills needed for the role being considered. Sometimes it takes the help of a third party to provide objectivity to
this part of the process.
Personality profiling. Since communication and teamwork is such an
important part of management, especially in today’s larger farm management teams, it would be useful to conduct a personality profile for each
team member. Then use a skilled third party to help understand what the
collective profiles of each team member might mean in terms of working
effectively together. This process can be eye opening.
There are many additional things to think about, but these are some
important issues to consider and should help get you started.
By Dave Coggins, Executive Vice President of Agricultural Banking at Investors
Community Bank, [email protected]
For more information, talk to your ag
lender, call (920) 686-9998 or visit
www.InvestorsCommunityBank.com/
remote_deposit.html.
Manitowoc
860 North Rapids Road
P.O. Box 700
Manitowoc, WI 54221-0700
Phone (920) 686-9998
ICB welcomes new ag banker
Investors Community Bank welcomes Curtis Gerrits as an agricultural banker. Curtis, who was born
and raised on a dairy farm, brings more than 10
years of related experience, including positions in
the agricultural construction industry, on a large
dairy farm, and most recently with MARGINSMART®. He will be
based out of the bank’s Eau Claire loan production office and can be
reached at (715) 514-5253.
Stevens Point
3273 Church Street
P.O. Box 128
Stevens Point, WI 54481-0128
Phone (715) 254-3400
www.InvestorsCommunityBank.com / [email protected]