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PRESS RELEASE

Information Contact:

Ashley Schumacher, Marketing Manager, ALCIVIA

Ashley.Schumacher@ALCIVIA.com; 608-819-3102

 

For Immediate Release: April 4, 2022

ALCIVIA lead investor in BIG Consulting, LLC

Driving continued commitment to advance solutions for customers

 

Cottage Grove, WI – ALCIVIA announced today that they have become the lead investor in BIG Consulting, LLC. This investment is critical to ALCIVIA’s continued commitment to solutions that drive value for our members, customers, and the cooperative and strongly aligns with our mission of “Advancing our customers through innovative and responsible solutions.”

BIG Consulting will continue to operate as a stand-alone company with their CEO, Kent Schultz, reporting to a board of directors comprised of representatives appointed by its investors. ALCIVIA is the lead investor and will have two seats on the board of directors of BIG Consulting, with two potential future investors holding one seat each. Schultz will continue to lead the business as CEO with a focus on growing new business and maintaining existing client relationships while developing complementary products and services to add to their existing portfolio.

“Becoming the lead investor in BIG Consulting, LLC was an easy decision, as it ensures the continued development of innovative business intelligence solutions that drive critical, business-impacting decisions,” said Jim Dell, ALCIVIA CEO and President. “We are excited to have been presented the opportunity to become the lead investor in BIG Consulting, and we look forward to the continued success and growth of the organization.”

Kent Schultz commented, “I am excited to begin this next chapter in the growth of BIG Consulting.  We are blessed to have a strong customer base committed to implementing business intelligence into their core management decision processes.  They are all leaders in applying data effectively to make business judgements through the tools we have developed for them.  With the resources provided by our investors, we look forward to adding technical talent to our amazing team of dedicated analysts who will be developing the next generation of data analytics in support of our current and future customers’ needs.”

ALCIVIA is a leading, member-owned agricultural and energy cooperative driven by our passion for excellence and a future without boundaries. Located in Wisconsin and serving farm, business and retail customers in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa, our engaged employees provide innovative, responsible solutions to help drive the immediate and long-term success of our customers, including competitive operating loans and input financing, as well as best-in-class products and services for the agronomy, animal nutrition, energy, and grain needs of our customers.

BIG Consulting, LLC is a Wisconsin-based limited liability corporation committed to “Transforming Data into Decisions” through unique, proprietary business intelligence reports and dashboards.  Its team of Business Intelligence Gurus are located in Minnesota, Nebraska, Texas, and Wisconsin.

 

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Feed is one of those day-to-day elements that many livestock owners may take for granted. You place the order, it arrives – you feed it. What you may not realize are all the elements to that feed that undergo scrutiny and examination.

Mary Williams, Food Safety and Quality Assurance Manager at ALCIVIA, explains what happens behind the scenes in monitoring sources for feed ingredients, and making sure the customer gets a consistent, safe, top quality product.

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With the rise in input costs forcing many growers to push their pencils even farther, knowing that your cooperative is ready to address your needs is critical. Pam Jahnke talks to Hans Pflieger, Vice President of Credit Operations at ALCIVIA about the flow of paperwork he’s been handling, and also the new opportunity available through the Patron Note Program.

One of the biggest challenges going forward for farmers is going to be getting financing for 2022 fertilizer. Prices are up, seed prices are up everything is up, and Pam it’s a good thing we got some folks that can help us out.

Absolutely Bob, we’re focused this time around on how ALCIVIA is trying to provide financing options for the customer farmers that they work with.

I talked about it with Hans Pflieger, he is in charge of the verity program and financing options that ALCIVIA is offering farms across the state of Wisconsin. I just basically started off with explaining what Verity is, for farmers that have used it they’ve become accustomed to it as a tool, but for farmers that have never investigated Hans tell us a little bit more about Verity.

Verity business solutions is a wholly owned subsidiary of ALCIVIA and it provides in-house financing options for our members which is just another benefit of doing business with ALCIVIA. Having access to cash to increase cash flow in times when farmers are getting tight.

How does Verity play in with the other finance programs available at all ALCIVIA?

Verity has three separate programs, grower financing programs, one that I want to talk about today is the jumpstart program which is our in-house financing for fall fertilizer. It allows farmers to purchase their fertilizer in the fall apply it in the fall and not pay for it until march 31st at zero percent interest.

The benefits of that really Pam are to get the fall fertilizer out on the ground in this in the fall so it’s more available in the spring it also allows farmers to be able to do that work when they have more time to be able to do it. In the spring, we’re doing a lot of spraying and delivering of seed and chemicals and don’t have the maybe the bandwidth at that point in time to be able to do it as we would in the fall.

So how fast does this process take if I’m trying to get those best prices at this time of the year how quickly are decisions made when it comes to verity and some of these financing programs?

You know depending on the size of the loan you need anywhere from 48 hours to about a week to be able to get the financing and be able to book the loan and have it available to be able to make those prepaid decisions on fertilizer.

Now some folks are going to say, wait a minute, wait a minute, we’ve never heard of Verity, never heard of these financing programs, will my ALCIVIA representative know about that Hans? Or where do I go to find out more about verity and the financing programs available in house through ALCIVIA?

If you reach out to your local ALCIVIA agronomist they could definitely help you and point you in the right direction, we also have a link on the ALCIVIA.com website.
Now, Hans, why should I shop Verity, and your financing programs versus my traditional lenders?

I think that you know it’s a goal of ALCIVIA and Verity to be able to provide convenient producer financing programs at competitive rates to allow members to purchase products when the best deal is on the table, and I think that the convenience factor and being able to deal and walk in the door and be able to get everything done in one swoop is a benefit to the members moving forward.

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It’s a challenge many businesses are facing – finding employees. The same is true in agri-business. Bob Bosold visits with Brian Musser, Talent Acquisition Partner for ALCIVIA. He’s tapped into all kinds of programs to try and address the seasonal and non-seasonal demands for people power within ALCIVIA.

Interested in a job with ALCIVIA? Opportunities exist indoors and outdoors. Find out more.

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Join the Midwest Farm Report program called ALCIVIA Co-op Talk with Pam Jahnke and Bob Bosold.

With energy prices at a level not seen since 2014, it’s important to keep the conversation going with your energy providers at ALCIVIA. Tom Volkert, ALCIVIA Energy Products Specialist, explains the tools they’re constantly monitoring to try and get the best price for their clients.

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The complexity of production agriculture today dictates paying attention. John Schoenfeld, Safety Director for ALCIVIA, explains the different areas of emphasis they focus on the make sure employees go home safely everyday.

From animal feed and crop inputs, to energy and grain marketing – ALCIVIA places a premium on operating safely.

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Join the Midwest Farm Report program called ALCIVIA Co-op Talk with Pam Jahnke and Bob Bosold. Marketing can be an emotional experience. You’re excited when you capture the highs, and disappointed when you miss them. What if you could make sure you hit your high without constantly staring at a screen?

Beth Helding, Grain Sales Leader with ALCIVIA, says farmers should explore the tools available that would allow them to lock in the price they want to receive, and then wait for the market to reach it. She counsels farmers on how to find that price and then relax.

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Join the Midwest Farm Report program called ALCIVIA Co-op Talk with Pam Jahnke and Bob Bosold. The entire energy complex from crude oil to propane has been bouncing all over the place. That’s keeping everyone on their toes on securing supplies and protecting prices. Stewart Anhalt, Energy Sales for ALCIVIA, says every day is different and producers/consumers need to stay involved in the conversation.

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During the season of giving, ALCIVIA helped local families in need by supporting Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin and Second Harvest Heartland, Wisconsin’s largest hunger-relief charity. Thanks to the generosity of employees, members, and partners, ALCIVIA provided Second Harvest with a donation of more than $37,000.

Over the course of the campaign, ALCIVIA employees participated in various events that included an online auction, a mystery envelope game and potlucks. Money raised from each of the events was donated to the campaign.

“ALCIVIA is committed to ending hunger in the communities we serve. Part of our ‘ALCIVIA Gives Back’ campaign includes supporting efforts through Second Harvest foodbanks and other local food pantries,” said Jim Dell, CEO and President at ALCIVIA. “We are proud of the dedication of our employees and partners and their continued support to end hunger.”

ALCIVIA is proud to be a silver sponsor of Second Harvest as part of the cooperative’s philanthropic efforts to end hunger. This is ALCIVIA’s ninth year of partnering with the food bank, which meets nearly one million annual requests for help with food security in the 16 counties it serves.

“Aiding in the effort to eliminate hunger in our communities is deeply important to us at ALCIVIA,” said Chrissy Long, Creative Director at ALCIVIA and Second Harvest Committee Chairperson. “Second Harvest is doing crucial work, and Share Your Holidays is a wonderful event that we’re proud to support. We’re grateful for the caring and generous hearts of everyone at ALCIVIA who rallied to raise funds for the foodbank.”

ALCIVIA is a leading, member-owned agricultural and energy cooperative driven by our passion for excellence and a future without boundaries. Located in Wisconsin and serving farm, business and retail customers in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa, our engaged employees provide innovative, responsible solutions to help drive the immediate and long-term success of our customers, including competitive operating loans and input financing, as well as best-in-class products and services for the agronomy, animal nutrition, energy, and grain needs of our customers.

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image of Second Harvest Sort-A-Thon, an ALCIVIA community project
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Join the Midwest Farm Report program called ALCIVIA Co-op Talk with Pam Jahnke and Bob Bosold. 2021 was incredibly busy for all the stakeholders involved in ALCIVIA. Entities from across the state were brought together to formally create ALCIVIA. All. Together. Cooperative.

Jim Dell recaps some of the highlights from the partnership and also updates members on recent acquisitions that will continue to strengthen the cooperative in 2022.