Real-world business skills are an essential part of any agricultural operation and Lakeland's agribusiness program is uniquely designed to help our students build that skillset. In the AgVenture course, students are tasked with creating and presenting a business plan.

“Students take an entrepreneurial idea from conception through to building a comprehensive and executable business plan,” explains Darla Stepanick, instructor for the course. “In this capstone course, students take ownership of an idea they are passionate about. They draw on knowledge acquired from their other courses to explore and establish the marketing, human resource, operational and finance requirements necessary in launching a successful business.”

On April 8, second-year agribusiness students presented their final business plan projects to faculty, their classmates and a judging panel made up of Taylor Veilleux, Class of 2019, and Makayla Moen, Class of 2018, both graduates of the agribusiness program. Local social media influencer Aqueena Clennett was also a member of the panel.

Winner: Takes the Cake

KN Marketing, a business plan created by Kailey Wirstra and Nelson Letts, was awarded the Takes the Cake designation, recognizing their presentation's overall quality.

Their idea came from wanting a business with diversified marketing products on offer.

“We figured if we had a lot of different services available, we'd reach a broader market and audience,” explains Wirstra. “We created a sales management, photography and graphic design company.”

They began their project at the beginning of the semester and for the presentation, Wirstra relied on public speaking skills learned through 4-H to excel.

Letts wasn't as comfortable as Wirstra with public speaking, but took the presentation as an opportunity to learn and refine his skills.

“It was a pretty good feeling to win an award,” he says. “There were so many good plans put together by our classmates.

Winner: Piece of the Pie

The Piece of the Pie award was given to the business plan that the judges were most likely to invest their money or time in to make happen. It was awarded to GALSGEAR, a team made up of Ashley Bakus and Christin Thormaehlen.

The women's workwear business was conceptualized to address a lack of much-needed products they are both eager to see available in the agricultural industry - workwear for women, designed to fit all women.

“We've had a lot of problems finding proper women's workwear in the proper sizing for a woman,” Thormaehlen says.

“Learning business plans is so important,” says Bakus. “If you go to the bank for a loan or anything, you always want to take something with you. Now we have a template to work off.”

Throughout the project, both Thormaehlen and Bakus agree that the most important skills they learned, other than making a business plan, were communication and public speaking skills.

“Winning the award was pretty much also a reward for all the work we put in,” says Thormaehken.

Winner: Out of the box

At first, Austin Smith wasn't sure why his business plan idea was awarded the Out of the Box award for the most unusual business idea. He'd grown up on a family farm that had been operating a seed cleaning plant for pulses since the 1970s. Smith had been tossing the idea of taking that one step forward with a value-added proposition for a while.

He and his partner, Davis Schmidt, took that idea and worked together. They created a plan for Sasky Fuel, a business that would take lentils and turn them into an alternative protein source for both lactose intolerant consumers and athletes looking for more protein.

“It made sense,” Smith says. “Especially after the award was explained. It was for the most innovative, outside-the-box idea. Ours was definitely unique. Sasky Fuel is a viable business. It's certainly something that should be looked into further.”

“Overall, it was awesome,” Schmidt agreed. “The presentation went so well. I love the stage and presenting is easy for me.”

Overall, 17 business plans were presented. The first-year agribusiness student were in attendance and got a jump start on their ideas for next year.