![]() Called Career 1 Source, this fast-growing branch focuses on private equity and health care companies, for example.Īt the end of 2022, Smith retired from the company but continues to help with the business. In 2008, the company added a second brand for non-agricultural businesses. The process begins with finding the right cultural fit, even before job skills or education. Whatever the company, Smith and his staff work hard to find people who are a good match with the business. The company focuses on helping clients fill mid- to upper-management positions, up to the senior executive level, in businesses that are a step or two from the farmer in the supply chain.Ĭlients might be such retail businesses as independent farm stores or cooperatives, or companies working in animal nutrition, genetics, agronomics, and many other specialties. “We put people in the area they know,” Smith said.Īg 1 Source collects resumes of interested job seekers and helps agribusinesses fill their open positions. ![]() Some specialize in agronomic jobs and some in the livestock industry. Today, Ag 1 Source also has recruiters located in the west coast, southeastern states, upper Midwest and eastern corn belt. “We want to listen to our customers and build a long-term relationship with them.”Īg 1 Source targeted businesses in the nation’s major agricultural production regions, beginning with the High Plains. “Our mission was to really work in depth with clients to make sure they got the people who fit their culture and would stick,” Smith said. Through the years, Smith and his coworkers built the business. “It had that small town environment we were looking for.” She was from central Kansas originally, and they were looking for an ideal community in which to raise their children. Smith and his wife also considered relocating. In 2002, they created an agriculturally-oriented recruiting company that they named Ag 1 Source. When the president of the company died suddenly, Smith and a co-worker decided to go out on their own. He opened the Kansas office for that company and found he enjoyed the job placement and recruiting work. Finally, they suggested: “Why don’t you just join us?” The recruiters proposed numerous job opportunities to Smith, but none was a fit. He enjoyed agribusiness and rose through the ranks of the company.Īs he considered further advancement, he was introduced to a man who worked for a recruiting company. He took an opportunity to work for Collingwood Grain in southwest Kansas. Smith went to Kansas State University where he met his wife and returned to the farm, but this was during the farm crisis of the 1980s. He says his ag teacher and FFA advisor, Bob Broeckelman, had a lifelong impact on him. He commuted to Norton High School because of its outstanding agricultural education and FFA program. ![]() Smith grew up on a farm near Long Island, Kansas. Mike Smith is the founder and chairman of Ag 1 Source, a national agricultural recruiting company. That recruiter is the founder of an executive placement company that serves clients across the nation. He is connected to this potential position by a recruiter based halfway across the continent. Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Mike Smith, Ag 1 Sourceīy Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State UniversityĪ businessman in Oregon is considering a new job. ![]()
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