2013 Farmers' Appreciation Day at Jay Peak

Yankee Farm Credit extends a sincere thanks to Jay Peak Resort in Jay, Vermont for hosting the 31st annual Farmers' Appreciation Day on Friday, January 25, 2013.  This year Yankee sent three employees to the event and donated several door prizes in support of Jay Peak's generous offering to Vermont farmers.

Pictured from left to right are: Rob Guay - Appraiser from Chazy NY, Guy Palardy - Crop Farmer from Alburg VT and alternate on Yankee's Nominating Committee, Ryan Scelza - Credit Analyst and Kendra Burroughs - Financial Services Assistant, both from White River Junction VT.

Each Vermont farm has the opportunity to take advantage of discounted rental equipment, free lessons and up to four complimentary lift passes as well as discounted water park tickets!  An après-ski party with give-aways is held following the day on the slopes.  If you missed it this year, mark you calendars for next January!  It is a great chance to enjoy what the Vermont winter has to offer.  For more information please check out the Jay Peak website here.   

NH Small Family Farm Conference

Jean Conklin, Senior Loan Officer in our White River Jct. office, attended and presented at the “The Business of Farming” conference in Concord, NH on January 24th. Also in attendance at the conference was Paul Franklin, YFC director from Plainfield, NH, and his wife, Nancy. The conference was sponsored by UNH CE, USDA RMA, NH DAMF, FSA, NH Farm Bureau, NH Small and Beginner Farmers and NOFA-NH.

About 75 participants heard presentations on:

• Hobby or For Profit Business – Mike Sciabarrasi, UNH CE
• Using Records for Management Decisions – Mary Welles, FCE, Bedford, NH
• What a Lender Looks For – Jean Conklin, YFC, White River Junction, VT
• Who’s an Employee – Christy Asbee & Kenneth Miller, Law for Food, Stowe, VT
• Legal Issues Regarding Employment – Christy Asbee & Kenneth Miller, Law for Food, Stowe, VT
• Insuring Your Farm – Andy Robertson, The Robertson Agency, Northwood, NH
• If and When Should You Form a LLC, Donald Sienkiewicz, Estate Preservation and Planning Law Office, Milford, NH

Mary Welles and Samantha Stoddard represented Farm Credit East. Samantha spoke about the FarmStart program. Jay Phinizy, NH FSA State Executive Director, also spoke and introduced FSA's new Microloan program.

New Faces at Yankee

Three new employees joined Yankee Farm Credit in 2012 as Credit Analysts. These positions became open as a result of internal promotions (noted in earlier blog posts).

Joining us in the St. Albans office are Ellen Howrigan Paradee and Carly Bushey.


Ellen Howrigan Paradee

Ellen grew up on a dairy/maple farm in Fairfield, VT. She farmed in Grand Isle for a number of years and recently has been employed as a paralegal. Ellen graduated from Vermont Technical College with degrees in Agri-Business and Dairy Farm Management and has been attending Champlain College. Ellen recently completed a four year term on the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board.


Carly Bushey

Carly also grew up in Fairfield. She is a May 2012 graduate from UVM with a BS in Business Administration and a concentration in Accounting. Carly has recently been working for Smugglers Notch Resort.

Joining us in the White River Junction office is Ryan Scelza.


Ryan Scelza

Ryan grew up in the White River Junction area.  After graduating from Clemson University with a BS in Economics he spent several years working for AllianceBernstein in the New York City area. Ryan is currently finishing up his MBA at the University of Connecticut.

We are pleased to have Ryan, Carly and Ellen join our lending team as new Credit Analysts!

FarmStart - Jason Spaulding

Jason Spaulding, age 19, of Winchester, NH is Yankee’s most recent FarmStart investment.  Jason has been working with his dad logging all throughout his childhood. During his latter high school years and since graduation he has built his own business that works closely with his father’s business. Jason does the timber felling, de-limbing and cutting to length and his dad has a forwarder to bring the logs to landing. Jason focuses on forest stewardship and conservation by using a low impact method of cutting to length in the woods and not on the landing. Jason has not seen any shortage of jobs; in fact he has built a business plan around the purchase of a used tree harvester that will cut and delimb the trees in the woods (which he currently does with a chainsaw), so that he can be more efficient and take on more jobs. This is where the FarmStart investment came in to play; Jason's FarmStart investment provided for the purchase of a tree harvester with funds available for repairs and maintenance of the machine.

Jason is excited and optimistic about his future in the logging industry because he sees great growth potential. With fuel prices continuing to stay high, Jason expects the market for pellets and lower end products to continue to grow. He is also enthusiastic about being one of very few young people getting into the logging industry. Jason shows a great amount of character and will have a positive future. He is easy to work with, thoughtful and very bright; he is thrilled to be a part of the FarmStart program and believes it will be a great opportunity for him to improve his business skills with the help of a FarmStart advisor.

Loan Officer Clara Hall in the White River Junction office is Jason’s FarmStart advisor.

Food Bank Donations

Yankee Farm Credit and CoBank recently donated $5,000 each, for a total of $10,000, to northeast food banks. John Sayles, Chief Executive Officer of the Vermont Foodbank in Barre, received the donations:

Left to right: David Sparks, CoBank; John Sayles, Vermont Foodbank; Will Baildon, CoBank; Rocky Giroux and George Putnam, Yankee Farm Credit

CoBank’s contribution is part of their “Sharing Success” program, a $3 million matching grant program designed to benefit cooperatives and charitable groups they support throughout rural America. CoBank launched this program in 2012 to coincide with the United Nations “International Year of Cooperatives.”

Yankee Farm Credit worked with the Vermont Foodbank to distribute a portion of the funds to the New Hampshire Food Bank and the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, corresponding to the 20-county area we serve (all 14 counties in VT, 4 counties in NH, 2 counties in NY). All three food banks provide food to food shelves, meal sites, shelters and after-school programs. To find a food shelf or donate please contact the following:

• Vermont Foodbank, www.vtfoodbank.org, 1-800-585-2265
• New Hampshire Food Bank, www.nhfoodbank.org, 603-669-9725
• Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, regionalfoodbank.net, 518-786-3691

You may also dial 211, it’s free, confidential and available 24/7. 211 gives you access to information about health and human services organizations, emergency food and shelter, volunteer opportunities, and more in your community. You can also find them online at www.vermont211.org, www.211nh.org, www.211ny.org.

Promotion - Kyle Lussier

I am pleased to announce that Kyle Lussier has been promoted from Credit Analyst to Loan Officer in our Middlebury office. Kyle joined us in June 2010 after a year at Chittenden Bank (now Peoples United). He is a graduate of Southern New Hampshire University. Kyle is a Farm Credit Tax Specialist.

Please join me in congratulating Kyle!

Promotion - Kristi Wood

I am pleased to announce that Kristi Wood has been promoted from Credit Analyst to Loan Officer in our Middlebury office. Kristi joined us in June 2009 after working for the Farm Service Agency. She is a graduate of Vermont Technical College. Kristi is a Farm Credit Assistant Tax Specialist.

Please join me in congratulating Kristi!