Last week, David Wright with M&M Service Company kicked off the morning with Gateway CEO. David launched the presentation with a full scope of the different types of business entities - including sole proprietorship, partnerships, LLCs and corporations, and Co-ops! M&M Service Company is a co-op that serves Madison, Macoupin and Montgomery counties as an agricultural supply company. This co-op began in 1927 as the Illinois Farmers Bureau as many farmers transitioned from the horse and plow to tractors. They wanted to ensure they could get gas for their farms.
Over the decades that have followed, M&M Services Co participates as part of the FS Network and are also members of Growmark. This relationship helps provide support for branding, legal services and company evaluations among other resources.
David explained why the co-op structure works so well.
- Provides for local ownership and control - with 12 board members.
- Local farmers combine rural values and relationships with global access to information and resources.
- Enhances profitability and opportunity for patronage payments
Farming is a very connected industry today and successful relationships are so important. Here are some additional insights that gave students a true view of all the details that take a seed from field to table.
- M&M Services continues to expand, including new state of the art facilities in Litchfield and Carlinville
- Efficiency is critical to net profit. Example -- all of the Propane tanks have technology to provide fill levels. Allows the most efficient logistics for refills and serves clients well.
- Gross sales vs Gross Income. Demonstrates that the most sales doesn't always provide for the largest profits.
- The farming industry is impacted by fluctuation in the markets, major weather events and government regulations.
- Have to be prepared to adapt in this business. Critical to control the 'controllable'. Team culture, logistics, use of technology.
- Attitude and effort - can make you or break you. Be consistent in every day, prepared to listen and plan around what you can't control.
- Efficiency is critically important to the success in business. Prefers when there is more to do.
- Transitioning from CFO to CEO meant really understanding the ins and outs of day-to-day. Logistics are imperative to the business and have to be understood.
- People are your priority. The more you can get everyone working toward the same goal and culture, the more rewarding work is for everyone.
This was an impactful morning with so much new information for these students to process. Thank you for being an Investor of Gateway CEO and also spending time one on one with our students!
