AgGeorgia Announces Hiring of Sr. Human Resources Generalist
AgGeorgia Farm Credit is pleased to announce the hiring of Brianna Chastain as Senior Human Resources Generalist. Mrs. Chastain graduated from Emmanuel University with a B.A. in Music and later earned a Certificate of Human Resources Management from the Carl Vinson Institute of Government. She has over 7 years of experience in Human Resources in both local government and the mortgage industry. Brianna lives in Gainesville, where she was born and raised, with her wonderful husband Drake and their two children, Amberleigh and Conan. She enjoys gardening, canning and preserving, and camping with her family.
AgGeorgia Farm Credit Announces Promotion in Royston
AgGeorgia Farm Credit is pleased to announce the promotion of Madison Bailey to the position of Senior Associate Accountant with the Centralized Accounting Department in the Royston Office. In this new role, Mrs. Bailey is primarily responsible for coordinating loan disbursements, performing data input and processing loan transactions for performing loans.
Madison started her journey at AgGeorgia in February of 2022 as Member Service Representative. She is a native of Hart County and comes from a family of farmers. Growing up, her parents had eight broiler houses and her grandfather had cattle. She and her husband, Nick, took over her grandfather’s cattle operation in 2020.
Mrs. Bailey looks forward to continuing serving farmers and rural residents of North Georgia in her new role.
AgGeorgia Farm Credit Announces Recipients of $55,000 in Community Mission Fund Grants
AgGeorgia Farm Credit recently awarded $55,000 to twelve local non-profit organizations as part of the cooperative’s Community Mission Fund. The grant program was established in 2023 with the goal of supporting endeavors that further the future of agriculture and enhance life in rural Georgia. Forty-eight grant applications were received, and awards of up to $5,000 per application were distributed in the fourth quarter.
“The Community Mission Fund provides a springboard for these great organizations to impact their communities in not only the upcoming year, but for years to come,” said AgGeorgia CEO Rob Crain. “We look forward to seeing the fruits of these investments and funding a new group of deserving non-profit organizations in 2024.”
The twelve organizations that received funding were:
Adairsville High School FFA (Bartow County) – This organization will use their grant funds to purchase equipment, including a livestock trailer, to allow students to raise and show livestock.
Colquitt Christian Academy (Colquitt County) – Grant funds will be used to obtain a storage shed and needed supplies for Ag Education classes and hands-on learning labs.
Crisp County Young Farmers (Crisp County) – This grant will be used to purchase a portable cattle chute which will aid smaller cattle farmers in Crisp County by enhancing farming efficiency, improving animal welfare, and supporting sustainable agriculture.
Emmanuel University (Franklin County) – Emmanuel University’s Agriculture Department will use these grant funds to provide a raised bed demonstration area and training courses for agriculture students, homeowners and commercial growers.
Lakeview Fort Oglethorpe High School FFA (Catoosa County) – This FFA chapter plans to start a school-based enterprise by building a coop and raising chickens for the community. Grant funds will be used to purchase supplies to build and stock the coop, as well as processing supplies.
North Georgia Equine-n-Motion (Forsyth County) – This organization works with special needs/exceptional children from ages 4-18 that face the challenges of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down's Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, and other emotional health disorders. Grant funds will continue to support their existing program and assist in developing a small farmer's market for clients to participate in the marketing and retail aspect of selling the fruits of their labor.
Southeast FFA Chapter (Whitfield County) – Grant funds will be used to build a multipurpose livestock facility to expand their organization’s animal science program, Raising the Roof with Animal Science.
STUDIO FARMER, Inc. (Richmond County) – This organization is a Veteran co-owned, limited resource farmer operated agribusiness organized for educational, scientific, literary and research purposes. Grants funds will be used to assist their educational program for YBSMV farmers.
TJ Elder Middle School (Washington County) – Grant funds will be used to purchase equipment for a joint project between the school’s agriculture and special needs departments. The purpose of this project is to educate students about raising poultry with the added bonus of being able to offer fresh, local eggs to the community.
The Westfield School (Houston County) – The school will use the grant to cover the cost for garden towers, gardening tools, seeds and educational resources for their Garden Tower project.
Turner Middle School (Turner County) – Grant funds will be used to purchase incubators, heat lamps, a protected chicken coup, and supplies for more raised garden beds, potting soil, seeds, and plugs for their agriculture education classes.
Vienna Fire Department (Dooly County) – This grant will be used towards the purchase of an Off-Road Firetruck that will allow their volunteer firefighters to navigate through crop land, timber tracts, and limited access locations to quickly extinguish fires.
AgGeorgia Farm Credit will begin advertising the program for 2024 grants in April of next year. For more information and to apply when the application period re-opens, please visit the AgGeorgia Farm Credit Community Mission Fund page at www.aggeorgia.com/community-mission-fund.
AgGeorgia Farm Credit recently conducted its annual Director and Nominating Committee elections with the assistance of elections facilitator Survey & Ballot Systems. Three candidates were elected to the Board of Directors and fourteen candidates were elected to the Nominating Committee.
After being provided a slate of candidates by a Nominating Committee of stockholders, AgGeorgia gave the opportunity for floor nominations at its October 11th Annual Meeting held in Perry. There were no nominations from the floor for the three Director positions with terms expiring December 31, 2023, or for the 2024 Nominating Committee. The candidates identified by the Nominating Committee were then voted upon via mailed and online ballot, with the following elected:
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Directors to serve a 4-year term:
C. Chase Springfield – Position #1, Director Region #1 R. Brian Grogan – Position #2, Director Region #1 Henry C. “Clint” Wortman, Jr. – Position #2, Director Region #6
2024 NOMINATING COMMITTEE Each to serve a 1-year term:
Rebecca A. Agnew - LaFayette, GA (Walker Co.) Derrell C. Bennett, Jr. - Adel, GA (Cook Co.) Jacob L. Callihan - Cherry Log, GA (Gilmer Co.) Wayne R. Ertzberger - Carnesville, GA (Franklin Co.) Jimmy D. Franks - Waynesboro, GA (Burke Co.) Melvin B. Hudson - Vienna, GA (Dooly Co.) C. Darrell Jones - Ellijay, GA (Gilmer Co.) Michael Scott Moore - Unadilla, GA (Dooly Co.) David B. Norman - Moultrie, GA (Colquitt Co.) Jason T. Ridley - Chatsworth, GA (Murray Co.) Wendell P. Sumner - Omega, GA (Colquitt Co.) Hugh H. Veal, Jr. - Wrightsville, GA (Johnson Co.) William Scott Everidge (Alternate) - Pinehurst, GA (Dooly Co.) Matthew F. Perfect (Alternate) - Elko, GA (Houston Co.)
Congratulations to all of the elected directors and Nominating Committee members who now have the opportunity to represent the over 5,000 member/borrowers of the association.
AgGeorgia Announces Hiring of Credit Analyst in Clarkesville Office
AgGeorgia Farm Credit is pleased to announce the hiring of Matthew Whitfield as Credit Analyst in the Clarkesville Office. A native of Franklin County, Mr. Whitfield graduated from the University of Georgia and majored in Environmental Economics and Management. His family has been raising beef cattle for generations and he owns and operates a small beekeeping business. Before coming to AgGeorgia, Matthew worked for Clemson University’s Agricultural Service Lab to assist farmers and producers maximize their yield through soil analysis.
He lives in Toccoa with his wife, Raleigh, and their yellow lab named Reggie. His brother, Ryan, works in the Royston office of AgGeorgia Farm Credit.
“I love talking with farmers and I am passionate about supporting and serving them as they feed and clothe the planet,” states Matthew. Mr. Whitfield looks forward to applying his agricultural knowledge and experience in serving the agricultural needs of the producers and rural residents in Habersham and surrounding counties.
AgGeorgia Announces Hiring of Appraiser in Cartersville Office
AgGeorgia Farm Credit is pleased to announce the hiring of Beth Poff as Appraiser in the Cartersville Office. A native of Virginia, Mrs. Poff graduated from Virginia Tech with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management. She has fifteen years of residential, commercial, and land appraising experience in Northwest Georgia and has been appraising properties through appraisal partners for AgGeorgia for 4 years.
Beth enjoys traveling, cooking, yoga, hiking, kayaking, boating, and going to the lake. She lives in Dallas with her husband, Doug, and they have two sons, Alex and Carson. Mrs. Poff looks forward to applying her appraisal experience in serving the agricultural needs of the producers and rural residents in Bartow and surrounding counties.
Scott Brown of Tifton Wins Grand Prize John Deere Gator
Scott Brown of Tifton, Georgia has been announced as the lucky winner of a 2023 John Deere Gator XUV590M, the grand prize from the AgGeorgia Farm Credit Regional Member Appreciation Events. Mr. Brown was selected at random on Friday, November 3rd from all entries submitted during the Regional Member Appreciation Events held October 23rd, 24th, November 1st and 2nd in Cartersville, Jefferson, Dublin and Tifton, respectively.
Mr. Brown is a member of AgGeorgia’s Tifton Branch.
Congratulations Scott, and thank you to all members who attended our events and registered to win. We appreciate your business!
AgGeorgia Farm Credit Announces Promotion & New Hire in Moultrie Branch
AgGeorgia Farm Credit is pleased to announce the promotion of Patrick Gallagher to Commercial Loan Officer and the addition of Mason DeVane as a Credit Analyst in the Moultrie Branch.
“I’m excited that Patrick has the opportunity to grow in his career while also staying in his hometown,” said Tamara Shrable, Regional Manager for AgGeorgia. “He flourished as a consumer loan officer and in his new role will manage larger credits and relationships.”
Mr. DeVane will serve as an additional Credit Analyst in the Moultrie location, boosting current staff. “We are ecstatic to bring on an experienced ag credit underwriter like Mason,” said Camille Dungan, AgGeorgia Credit Administrator. “His background and knowledge of agriculture is sure to bolster our analyst team.”
A native of Colquitt County, Mr. Gallagher is a 2020 graduate of Valdosta State University where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with an emphasis on Finance. He has over four years of experience in banking/finance, in addition to five years of sales experience. With family involved in farming in the Doerun area, Mr. Gallagher has an ingrained appreciation for agriculture and the Colquitt County community.
Mr. DeVane received a bachelor's degree in Agribusiness from the University of Georgia, and since graduating has obtained over four years of experience in credit underwriting with other agricultural lenders. He and his wife, Karson, and son, Ford, live in Colquitt County.
Mr. Gallagher and Mr. DeVane look forward to utilizing their experience and knowledge of ag to provide personalized service to the growing membership of AgGeorgia’s Moultrie Branch.
The Chatsworth Branch will be closed this Friday the 13th due to the branch’s community service project. You will not able to drop payments in the dropbox due to parking lot resurfacing that will be completed that same day.
Calls to the office will routed to and answered by another office. We will re-open Monday the 16th at 8:30 AM with normal business hours.
You can withdraw funds, make a loan payment, view tax documents and more 24/7 through Digital Banking and AgGeorgia Mobile.
AgGeorgia Farm Credit Announces New Hire in Tifton
AgGeorgia Farm Credit is pleased to announce the hiring of Alicia (Ali) Brantly as a Member Service Representative in the Tifton Office. A resident of Tift County, Ali has several years of financial customer service experience from a previous financial institution. She plans to be married later this year and enjoys spending her spare time fishing and with family.
Ms. Brantly looks forward to applying her financial experience in serving the agricultural needs of the producers and rural residents in Tift and the surrounding counties.