Growing a Small Town Ag Real Estate Company
Stanton, Iowa (pop. 678) is our featured rural community this week! We'll be sharing success stories throughout the week from local leaders and business owners who are making an impact here.
Today's guest blog post is from Nick Gray of Midwest Ag Services, a small, family-owned ag real estate sales, management, and appraisal company.
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While growing up on a small farm on the edge of Villisca, Iowa and attending college at Northwest Missouri State University I decided I wanted to do something Ag related as a career. I began conducting Agricultural related business while working as a loan officer in southwest Iowa. I spent 12 plus years working for area banks in different communities.
While at the bank, I noticed a need for Ag Appraisers in the area. I eventually made the scary decision to quit my banking career to pursue a more independent and growing career in Ag Real Estate selling/appraising/managing. My wife, Susan, and I decided to purchase an office space in Stanton to have a "home base" for me to work from. We chose Stanton because it was where our kids went to daycare/school and it is a very progressive and supportive community.
While making the transition, Midwest Ag Services reached out to me about working with them. Midwest Ag Services, Inc. is a small, family-owned Ag RE sales, management, and appraisal company. With one office in Council Bluffs and several farms being managed in the Red Oak/Stanton/Villisca/Corning/Lenox area, they were looking to expand with an office in that area. Myself and Stanton were the perfect fit.
Since then we have embedded ourselves in the community and my Ag Real Estate business is growing. The community of Stanton has been extremely supportive of our business and family. I am able to have the peace of mind that my kids are getting the support and education they need within the Stanton School District. The small town allows my kids to walk to and from school from my office without the worry of something happening to them. We know and are friends with almost everyone in town. Small towns like Stanton have a very unique way of making anyone feel at home!
Check out the Midwest Ag Services facade transformation as part of Stanton’s downtown facade project.
Find out more about the rural revival happening in Stanton, Iowa here:
EPISODE 147 // JENNA RAMSEY OF STANTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND KEVIN CABBAGE OF FMTC
SUPPLYING YOUR SMALL TOWN FIREARM, FISHING, AND GROCERY NEEDS
AN UNEXPECTED PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO TURNED EVENT SPACE
We’re challenging small towns to create opportunities and shift the mindset of our kids so they choose to stay in our rural communities instead of leave.