Yankee Farm Credit Approves Special Cash Patronage

Yankee Farm Credit Approves Special Cash Patronage

Members to receive $1.8 million mid-year patronage

Williston, Vermont (August 24, 2018) The Yankee Farm Credit Board of Directors recently approved the distribution of a mid-year patronage dividend of $1.8 million to their more than 1,400 members who are involved in farming and forestry. This distribution equals a return of approximately 30 bps of the average daily balance on loans.

This special patronage payment is possible because 2018 net income is significantly over budget for the first half of 2018. Several factors contributed to this positive performance in net income, including; an increased focus on portfolio diversification, a steadfast focus on cost controls and one-time payments received from partner organizations. We anticipate the payment will be distributed in the fourth quarter of 2018. This payment is separate from the $6.3 million patronage dividend that was paid in March 2018, which was based on 2017 earnings. The board will review net income at year-end with the anticipation that we will pay normal patronage in addition to this special patronage payment.

Our board's philosophy is that funds, which are not required to safely operate or capitalize our cooperative, should be returned to members. The special, one-time dividend reflects Yankee Farm Credit’s strong financial position, combined with our understanding and appreciation of the economic challenges faced by many of our members. Yankee's strong earnings allow us to continue to grow sustainably, while returning a portion of those earnings to our owner members.

"Kudos go to Yankee's management and staff for their hard work and wise management of our members’ funds, especially during the challenging times of Yankee's IT conversion,” said Paul Franklin, Chairperson of the Board.  “Their hard work resulted in achieving higher returns than necessary to meet Yankee's budgetary needs. Increased revenues combined with one time refunds allows the board to approve this distribution of funds to Yankee's members by a mid-year special patronage."

About Yankee

Yankee Farm Credit is a member-owned cooperative that provides loans and financial services to farmers and other rural customers. Yankee is an agricultural credit association (ACA) within the national Farm Credit System. Yankee serves all of Vermont, four counties in New Hampshire (Cheshire, Coos, Grafton and Sullivan) and two counties in New York (Clinton and Essex).

For more information about Yankee, visit the Association’s website at www.yankeefarmcredit.com. The complete quarterly report is available on the website.

Contact

Erika Quick
Marketing Coordinator
802-879-4700
equick@yankeefarmcredit.com

Meet our 2018 Summer Interns - Griffin Shaw

We are excited to have five interns join us this year. They will be an important part of several special projects this summer. We'll feature each one here, so you can get to know them. Please welcome them to the team!

Name: Griffin Shaw

Hometown: Bradford, VT

Where do you attend college and what do you study?

I’m a junior attending the University of Vermont and I’m studying Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting and Finance.

How did you hear about Yankee Farm Credit?

I heard about Yankee originally from farmers in my hometown, but I learned about this internship from Dr. DeWitt, who is a board member for Yankee.

What branch and department do you work in? Do you have any specific projects?

I am working out of the Williston branch under Lisa in the credit department. I just finished up adjusting data that had errors from the conversion and I will be working on other projects in different departments along with other data cleanup.

What do you hope to get out of your internship that you may not get from a traditional classroom?
I hope to learn how businesses run in a day to day sense and how that fits into the overall goals of the organization, along with gaining practical experience that can be applied better than classroom knowledge. 

What do you hope to do after you graduate?

I hope to get my Masters in Accountancy and become a CPA. From there maybe move into forensic accounting and see where that takes me.

For more information on internship opportunities,

contact Ruchel St. Hilaire, at rsthilaire@yankeefarmcredit.com or 800-639-3053.

Meet our 2018 Summer Interns - Joshua Lagerquist

We are excited to have five interns join us this year. They will be an important part of several special projects this summer. We'll feature each one here, so you can get to know them. Please welcome them to the team!

Name: Josh Lagerquist

Hometown: Bedford, NH

Where do you attend college and what do you study?:

I currently attend the University of Vermont and will be a senior going into this Fall. I am a part of the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural resources and am majoring in natural resources with a degree concentration in resource ecology.

How did you hear about Yankee Farm Credit?

One of my forestry lab partners and a fraternity brother of mine were interns with Yankee last summer. They both had very positive experiences and encouraged me to look into the potential opportunity of interning here as well!

What branch location and department are you working in? Do you have any specific projects?

I am working with the appraisal department and am currently based out of the Williston office. One of the nice things is that travel comes with territory when doing appraisal work and it has allowed me to visit the other branches and see more parts of the state. This summer I have been pulling sales data to further develop the sales database, doing some GIS and mapping work as well as shadowing during appraisal inspections.

What do you hope to get out of your internship that you may not get from a traditional classroom?

This internship has given me some really great opportunities to apply skills I have learned through my coursework and then utilize them to solve unique problems. Also, I am hoping to use this internship to help determine my career interests for future.

What do you hope to do after you graduate?

Nothing specific at the moment, I would like to travel a little bit but otherwise hope to hop right into a job or career that is related to my field of study!

For more information on our summer internship opportunities, please email Ruchel St. Hilaire

RStHilaire@yankeefarmcredit.com

Meet our 2018 Summer Interns - Courtney Bronson

We are excited to have five interns join us this year. They will be an important part of several special projects this summer. We'll feature each one here, so you can get to know them. Please welcome them to the team!

Name: Courtney Bronson

Hometown: Shoreham, Vermont

Where do you attend college and what do you study?
I graduated from Vermont Technical College in May with an Associate Degree in Agribusiness Management and Technology. This fall I will be a Junior attending Champlain College in their Bachelor’s in Accounting program.

How did you hear about Yankee Farm Credit?
I had known of Yankee because my mom works in the Middlebury office as a credit analyst, but before she started working here I had heard of them through my Sustainable Agriculture class at the Hannaford Career Center. In class we had talked about the many aspects of the Agriculture world and the career opportunities that are available besides the typical “farmer” that everyone thinks of. In the course of our discussion financing your business and the different careers in that area came up and we talked about businesses in Middlebury that lend specifically to the Agriculture world including FSA, VACC, and Yankee.

What branch and department do you work in? Do you have any specific projects?

I am  working in the Middlebury branch and am currently working in both the Financial Related Services (FRS) and Credit departments. In credit I have been helping with loan document catch-up on the backlog from the beginning of the year and verifying that loan documents are correct. For FRS, I compiled a master list of clients with names and addresses and also created a complete list of 2017 tax returns that were prepared by Yankee.

What do you hope to get out of your internship that you may not get from a traditional classroom?

I hope to get some real-world experience working on computer software and entering real data into programs used by businesses, and having the chance to see how their database works. In the classroom, I only get the chance to enter fake data from a book into trial software or the software used is designed just for learning/teaching purposes and isn’t used by companies to conduct their everyday business. Technology is such a large part of a world today that the knowledge I can gain from working with the different programs Yankee uses is something I could never get from a classroom.  I also have already gotten the chance to see how the loan process works through multiple stages and how much internal work gets done so the parts can come together to get the loan booked.

What do you hope to do after you graduate?

After I graduate from Champlain I plan to stay in Addison County and find an Agribusiness job; hopefully in financial services. I hope to continue showing my horses on both the local and regional level and maybe one day at the national level. I also plan to become a 4H leader in the near future, most likely for my old 4H club, and help educate kids and provide them with some of the amazing opportunities that were given to me. 

For more information on internship opportunities,

contact Ruchel St. Hilaire, at rsthilaire@yankeefarmcredit.com or 800-639-3053

Annual Meeting Results

It was a busy April, here at Yankee. We held five annual meetings this year, starting on Monday April 9th, with a morning meeting in Chazy, NY then Middlebury, VT in the evening. Tuesday was in Quechee, VT, and we finishing up on Thursday, April 12th with a morning meeting in Newport, VT and the evening in St. Albans. We had an increase in overall attendance which was a welcome sight as 2017 was an eventful year for Yankee and there was much to communicate with members. Each meeting also offered members the opportunity to hear from director candidates, vote for directors in their region, hear from Brenda Frank, CEO and Paul Franklin, Board Chairperson about the state of the Association, and get introduced to a few current members of our FarmStart program,  an alternative to our traditional financing products, specifically designed to assist beginning farmers and cooperatives.

Voting concluded on Thursday evening at the St. Albans meeting. The ballots were counted and the results were announced before the meeting adjourned.

Elected to three year terms on the board of directors were:
Region 1-Craig Giroux
Region 2-Brad Maxwell
Region 3-David Folino

David Folino

Craig Giroux

Brad Maxwell

Congratulations to  Craig, Brad and David and thanks to Anne Lincoln, Mateo Kehler, Clifford Allard and Jane Clifford for participating in the elections as candidates.

Yankee CEO, Brenda Frank reflected on this year's meetings and the coming year.

"It was a tremendous support being able to talk with members over the week. Our team is dedicated to staying focused on the industries we serve while managing the many challenges of the coming year. The rising interest rate environment offers challenges for everyone at Yankee Farm Credit, but we stay committed to returning any additional profit to our members."

Paul Franklin, Board Chairperson commented on the importance of member support to the success of our Association.

"The board of directors is pleased to have such broad support and participation in the Association's annual meetings. The election process is so important to running this organization and we are pleased to welcome Craig and David to the board.

We appreciate your patience as Yankee's staff completes the conversion to new support programs. They offer new efficiencies and services, but also learning challenges and change for all of us. Make sure you look to the staff for any help you need with any of this or other lending issues.

We are proud to have had a successful year reflected in our patronage and look forward to continuing the year servicing our customers with a safe and strong Agricultural Credit Association."

Thank-you to the members that participated, and a special thanks to employees for organizing and running successful meetings. We welcome any feedback about annual meetings. If you have questions or comments, please let us know! You can email your thoughts to our Corporate Secretary, Jim Mills at jmills@yankeefarmcredit.com or call at 800-639-3053.

https://www.yankeefarmcredit.com/products-and-services/farm-start

Meet our 2017 Summer Intern: Sam Hartman

We are excited to have four interns join us this year. They will be an important part of several special projects this summer. We'll feature each one here, so you can get to know them. Please welcome them to the team!

Name: Sam Hartman

Hometown: Jericho, VT                

College or University and area of study: I attend UVM, with a BS in Business Administration and BA in French.

How did you hear about Yankee Farm Credit? I heard about Yankee through a board member who was one of my professors.

What Branch Location and department are you working in? I am currently working in St. Albans, but last year I worked in Williston.

What do you hope to get out of your internship that you may not get from a traditional classroom? I hope to get hands on experience learning about ag finance, as well as business system organization in general.

Plans for after graduation? I would like to continue work within the Farm Credit network and eventually to graduate school.

Meet our 2017 Summer Intern: William Dunkley

We are excited to have four interns join us this year. They will be an important part of several special projects this summer. We'll feature each one here, so you can get to know them. Please welcome them to the team!

Name: William Dunkley

Hometown: Westford, VT

College or University and area of study: I attend the University of Vermont and am studying Forestry.

How did you hear about Yankee Farm Credit? I heard about Yankee’s internship through a faculty coordinator at UVM. I also know people in the community who worked with Yankee and my father has had loans with Yankee to finance his sugaring operation.

What Branch Location and department are you working in? I’m working in St. Albans in the appraisal department. Specifically I’m helping the department develop their forest appraisal program.

What do you hope to get out of your internship that you may not get from a traditional classroom? Understanding how the skills we are taught in the classroom are applied in the real world is invaluable. I hope this internship can help me direct my next two years of study so that I can learn the skills that employers are really looking for. I also hope to learn a lot about appraisal and expand my general understanding of agricultural economy in our region.

Plans for after graduation? I plan to continue sugaring with my dad and eventually start my own business.

Meet our 2017 Summer Intern: Kisa Nop

We are excited to have four interns join us this year. They will be an important part of several special projects this summer. We'll feature each one here, so you can get to know them. Please welcome them to the team!
Name: Kisa Nop

Hometown: Salisbury, Vermont

College or University and area of study: I attend Dordt College in Iowa where I am studying Human Resources and Spanish.

How did you hear about Yankee Farm Credit? I have grown up hearing the name Yankee Farm Credit for as long as I can remember because our farm is a member and my dad use to work in the Farm Credit system!

What Branch Location and department are you working in? I work in Williston in the HR department.

What do you hope to get out of your internship that you may not get from a traditional classroom? I hope to get hands on experience! And hopefully a feel for what areas of HR I am more interested in.

Plans for after graduation? I am not sure yet I still have a few years to go, but right now I am interested in a position in employee relations or training and development.

Meet our 2017 Summer Intern: Dan Truso

We are excited to have four interns join us this year. They will be an important part of several special projects this summer. We'll feature each one here, so you can get to know them. Please welcome them to the team!

Name: Dan Truso

Hometown: Granville, NY

College or University and area of study: I attend Grossman School of Business, University of Vermont, and I am studying Business Administration.

How did you hear about Yankee Farm Credit? My father works for a Farm Credit association.

What Branch Location and department are you working in? I work in the Middlebury Branch with the Credit Department.

What do you hope to get out of your internship that you may not get from a traditional classroom? I look forward to meeting customers and learning about their businesses.

Plans for after graduation? After graduation I plan to hike the 272 miles of the Long Trail, then start a career at a Farm Credit institution.

Annual Meeting Results

It has been a busy week here at Yankee as we held annual meetings Monday in Middlebury, VT; Tuesday in both Hanover, NH and Newport, VT; and wrapping up last night in St. Albans, VT. At each meeting members had the opportunity to listen to director candidates, vote for directors in their region, hear from Brenda Frank, CEO and Paul Franklin, Board Chair about the state of the Association, and observe a presentation on survey results about transferring farm ownership conducted by Business Consultant Joanna Lidback.

Last night members completed voting for directors, ballots were counted, and the results were announced before the meeting was adjourned.
Elected to three year terms on the board of directors were:
Region 1 – Celeste Kane-Stebbins
Region 2 – Kyle Thygesen
Region 3 – Paul Franklin
Congratulations to Celeste, Kyle and Paul, and thanks to Anne Lincoln and Joseph O'Gorman for participating in the elections as candidates.

Thank you to the members that participated, and a special thanks to employees for organizing and running successful meetings. We welcome any feedback about annual meetings. If you have questions or comments please let us know! You can email your thoughts or give our Corporate Secretary, Jim Mills, a call at 800-639-3053.

New Employee - Amy Baisden

Amy Baisden joined our Middlebury staff at the end of January as a Loan Documentation Specialist. Amy earned her Juris Doctor degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law and most recently was a managing partner of a small law firm in South Burlington. For generations, her family raised beef cattle in Fayette County, WV. Amy is looking forward to turning her career toward supporting farmers and agricultural businesses.


Welcome to team Yankee Farm Credit!

Local Farm Credit directors meet with Congresswoman Ann M. Kuster

From left: Gov. Lynch, Congresswoman Kuster, Steve Taylor, Henry Huntington

New Hampshire Second District Congresswoman Ann M. Kuster recently met with two Farm Credit board members from her district during a timeout from campaign activities in Concord, N.H. Former New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch joined the conversation and both expressed their continuing support for Farm Credit service to agriculture and forestry in the Granite State. From left are: Gov. Lynch; Congresswoman Kuster, Steve Taylor of Meriden, a director of Yankee Farm Credit, which serves the western and northern areas of the state; and Henry Huntington of Loudon, a director of Farm Credit East, which covers the six southeastern counties of New Hampshire.

Yankeeaca.com

Farmcrediteast.com

http://kuster.house.gov/

New Due Date for 2016 Forms W-2 and 1099

A reminder from our Financial Records and Payroll Services department.

Effective January 1, 2017, electronic Forms W-2, W-3, 1099 and 1096 are due to the IRS by January 31, 2017!

Previously, electronically filing extended the due date to March 31^st. The new January 31^st deadline now matches the due date for paper filed versions of the forms.
So, what does this mean for you?
Wage reconciliation and 1099 reporting information (Forms W-4 and W-9) must be obtained before year end to meet the new deadline.
And how do you prepare?
Put your ducks in a row now before it’s too late by regularly reconciling your records and payroll.
A few tips to help accomplish this:

• Obtain Form W-9 from 1099 vendors before you pay them.
• Keep a record of all payments made to employees and 1099 vendors.
• Keep a log of all tax payments made throughout the year.
• Adopt an accounting program, such as QuickBooks or CenterPoint, to compile all your business activities in one place and produce tax ready reports.

Yankee also offers records and payroll services. Service options are tailored to your needs. Whether it’s at your place of business or in our office, staff is here to help!
Contact your local office for details.

New Employee - Tess Adone

Tess Adone was hired in October as the Executive Assistant to CEO and President-elect Brenda Frank and also will be supporting the Board of Directors and senior management team. Tess is entering her ninth year of progressive experience as an executive assistant and has worked in the academic, non-profit, and state government sectors. A long-time resident of Vermont, Tess received her M.A. in English from the University of Vermont.

Meet Yankee's Newest Certified General Appraiser-Nate Goddard

Nate Goddard, out of Yankee’s St. Albans, VT office, has been granted a Certified General Appraiser license by the Vermont Board of Real Estate Appraisers, allowing him to appraise all types of real property.  Nate was hired as an Appraiser Trainee in 2013.

The process of obtaining a certified general license is lengthy and extensive, requiring about three years of designated study, testing and supervised practical experience. Each course taken to meet the requirements has a test and there is one BIG test at the end.  The field experience requires supervision and guidance from an experienced Certified General Appraiser and several appraisal reports are selected by the Board for review prior to issuing a license. While this process is long and rigorous it does produce well trained appraisers which is a definite advantage for the appraiser, for the profession and for Yankee.

Nate grew up on a dairy farm in Orwell, VT.  He got his BA from University of Vermont and continues to live in the Burlington area.  Nate has excellent dairy industry knowledge and is capable of handling the valuation of the largest and most complex dairies in the region.  He has also developed a high level of knowledge in the maple industry.  We congratulate Nate for his accomplishment and wish him every success in his career.  We’re proud Nate is part of Yankee’s appraisal team!

New Employee - Dan Shepard

Dan Shepard joins our Williston office (though he will be a frequent guest in Middlebury) as Controller on October 17, 2016. Dan has provided financial and accounting services to private companies for the past 6 years at Gallagher, Flynn and Company, LLP in South Burlington VT. He has worked with closely held, venture capital and private equity owned companies in a broad range of industries from breweries, manufacturing, and hospitality to non-for-profit and cooperative organizations.   

Dan sits on the Board of Directors for Special Services Transportation Agency, Inc., based in Colchester, VT. He currently serves as Treasurer and is a member of the Executive committee and Finance committee. SSTA’s mission is to provide accessible transportation for people who have specialized mobility needs.  He is also member on the Board of Directors for HOPE. Works Inc., based in Burlington, VT and serves the Chittenden County community. HOPE Works provides crisis counseling and advocacy for those whose lives have been affected by sexual violence.

He graduated from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Accountancy and Business and grew up just south of Lake George, NY.

Dan is an avid motorcyclist. He has toured much of the Northeast and Canadian Maritime on two wheels and a tent (current bike is a Honda Africa Twin) and has hundreds of pictures and videos to share; and is up for discussion all things internal combustion engine anytime. Additional he loves to race sailboats, golf, ride dirt bikes (drz400e), and hike.

Dan is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Vermont Society of CPAs . In addition to his CPA license he also holds the Charted Global Management Accountant designations from the AICPA and is a member of the CGMA society.

Welcome to the Yankee Farm Credit Team!

New Director - Ken Deon

On August 12, 2016 Kenneth F. Deon was appointed by the board to serve as an outside director. He grew up in Plattsburgh, NY and graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh.  He is a retired CPA who worked for KPMG for most of his career. He was the managing partner of the KPMG office in Burlington, VT from 2004 to 2007 and the Albany, NY office from 2007 to 2015.  Mr. Deon has more than 30 years of experience in providing audit and advisory services to clients in a number of industries.  He has a thorough understanding of industry operations, processes and controls, as well as knowledge of technical accounting issues such as business combinations, regulatory accounting and financial reporting.  His audit experience includes IPO/SEC experience, including Sarbanes-Oxley regulatory requirements. Through the years he has been involved in a number of professional and civic organizations.  He has served as an Adjunct Professor in Accounting at Union Graduate School and at Saint Michael’s College.  Mr. Deon retired from KPMG in 2015 and currently lives in Greer, South Carolina.


We are pleased to welcome Ken to the Yankee Farm Credit Team!

New Employee - Kevin Channell

Kevin Channell joined the White River Junction credit team as a Loan Officer on September 26th.  For the past four years Kevin has performed farm consulting in Indiana and New England while developing and operating a small-scale diversified community farm.  Prior to that he established a 28-acre organic produce farm in Fairlee near Dartmouth College, managing all aspects and after nine years sold the successful operation which is still operating profitably.  He is committed to making a positive impact on farms and farm families.

Welcome to the Yankee Farm Credit team!

New Employee - Kelly St. Pierre-Raymond

Kelly St. Pierre-Raymond started on September 19th  as an office assistant in our St. Albans, VT office.  Kelly has spent several years as a Police dispatcher/911 operator and thrives on providing calm, friendly service while maintaining organization and open communication. She is looking forward to working with our customers!
Please welcome Kelly to the Yankee Farm Credit Team!

New Employee - Dave Keenan

On August 22nd, Dave Keenan joined the Derby staff as a Senior Loan Officer.  A Plymouth State grad with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration, Dave has an extensive history of banking and commercial finance experience with an economic development company and commercial banks in the Northeast Kingdom.  He is very active in the community and is a member of 3 volunteer fire departments.  Dave enjoys working with clients to help them achieve their goals and dreams.
Welcome to the team Dave!