Project Title: Educational and Organizational Support for “Badger AgVest, LLC”

Round 1 (2003)          

Project Leader (s):  Greg Lawless, at that time with the UW Center for Co-ops

Project Collaborators:  Will Hughes, DATCP and the BAV steering committee

Project Category:  Outreach/Education

Situation:  This project was actually started about 18 months prior to this EAM Team support, with USDA funding and involvement from other partners.  The initial effort, called the Value Added Agriculture Leadership Development (VAALD) Project, brought together about 20 handpicked Wisconsin commodity producers for a yearlong educational program.  At the end of 2002, these producers voted unanimously to form a new organization to support the development of companies that would “add value” to their commodities.  By July 2003, with help from UWEX and DATCP staff, they formed Badger AgVest, LLC.  The new BAV Board of Directors then requested UWEX assistance with organizational development and member education.

Response:  What we intended to do was help Badger AgVest grow and develop toward the vision of its founding producers.  The inputs were a small percentage of time from one Extension Outreach Specialist, plus some money for travel and supplies.  Our Work Plan changed frequently and substantially over time, in response to opportunities, challenges, and revised strategies.  We ultimately asked for a no-cost one-year extension to September 2005.  Over the course of the two years, the EAM team funding supported the development of an interim BAV website, numerous press releases, several PowerPoint presentations about BAV, a BAV logo and letterhead, and organizational brochure, a FAQ sheet, and business cards for board officers.  In addition, UWEX staff helped revise a BAV grant proposal to DATCP that eventually awarded them $40,000.  In December 2003, EAM-funded staff, supplies and travel helped produce the first annual Ag Venture Fair, which presented eight different ag-related companies looking for outside investment.  In March 2004, the funding helped support the coordination of a conference Value Added Agriculture in Platteville, with guest speakers from North Dakota and Michigan.  Also in March 2004, BAV hired a part-time coordinator to take over day-to-day management of the organization, and from that point forward UWEX involvement dropped to a largely advisory participation, while BAV continued to grow toward its goals. 

Results:  The result of all these efforts has been the establishment of an entirely new kind of organization serving Wisconsin agricultural industry.  Initially, it was modeled after the “producer alliances” of South Dakota, Kansas, Michigan, and particularly Iowa.  One of the original BAV goals, based on the Iowa example, was to develop a membership of 1,000 or more producers through the development of so-called “new generation co-ops” that offer farmers the chance to participate as investors and suppliers in companies that add value to their commodities.  However, the BAV board now describes the organization as “an angel investor network for agriculture,” and they see their mission as one of connecting investors with sound investment opportunities that support the state’s producers and the larger agricultural industry.  Perhaps the most tangible impact the organization has had thus far stems from their careful evaluations of a number of investment opportunities.  They secured the help of qualified outside consultants and advisors to do “due diligence” on at least four companies, including (1) a start-up biotech firm looking to locate in Wisconsin and produce medical pigs for a human transplant process, (2) a bio-diesel plant, (3) a bio-tech firm looking to produce hydrogen from simple sugars such as corn, and (4) a bio-tech firm utilizing enzymes to reduce the cost of producing ethanol.  Based on their analysis of the first two, a cautious BAV board decided not to pursue those opportunities.  However, the analysis of the latter two firms led the board to create two new entirely separate limited liability companies, as vehicles for investment in the two bio-tech companies in 2005.  The amount of investment made from BAV members was not publicly available, but it was significant.

Evidence:  The initial evaluation plan was simply to ask the BAV board of directors to evaluate how well the work plan was carried out and how effective it was in building BAV and educating its members.  Here are two board members’ responses:

“With the leadership, expertise, educational opportunities offered, and the network provided by the involvement of UW Extension this group of farmers (small businessmen in the real world scheme of things) has developed into a very organized and working board of directors.  I feel we have great vision and our mission is currently unfolding into what I think will be an exciting experience for not only the board but many other producers in the state that might want to participate.”

“The efforts of UW Extension in assisting BAV throughout the development stages, initial education, and formative months was and continues to be solid and supportive.   The questions raised and direction clarified proved to be one I would best describe as ‘iron sharpening iron’.   I look forward to the support and evaluation of each step further by UW Extension folks”