The first few years at the St. Albert plant, we didn't have an agronomist. Then one day, Kent Lamoureux came in to pick up a load of fertilizer for his dad and brother Dave. He asked if I had an agronomist on I staff. I said no. So he told me that he was an agronomist and he was available. I told him Doug and I had been thinking about it but hadn't decided. A few days later, Kent came in and asked if we had hired an agronomist yet. When I said no, he told us we needed one and he was still available. I told him we were still thinking about it. Well, Monday morning Kent walked in at 8 a.m. with his lunch and announced he was there to work for us... and he is still here. That was in 1989, and in the many years since, I continued to tease him that we hadn't actually hired him yet. July 20, 2014, was Kent's 25th anniversary with SVF, so I made up an official-looking certificate recognizing him for completing 25 years' probation and being officially hired on full time. 

 

When Kent was offering his services, my thoughts went back to what I saw at McGregor's. As our company has grown, we've had to hire agronomists to work with our customers. We are different from most dealers because our agronomists are not paid commission on sales. There is no incentive for them to recommend more than what is needed or more expensive products. I think the customers like that because they know they can trust that the agronomists' opinions are not compromised. 

 

Roger Barron joined our agronomy staff and has become our lead agronomist. This will help make our agricultural efforts more coordinated and efficient. Kevin Speer gives us strength at the counter and also has inventory-control responsibilities. Taylor Bokenfohr has been a summer student for the past two years. Cory Laird joined the agronomist team full time in the spring of 2013. Cory worked part time for five years while he got his bachelor of commerce degree and his agriculture diploma. It is special for me to have my grandson interested in the family business.