OFI 1605: No Idea Is Too Big If You’ve Got Hustle | Andrew Swafford | Four Aims Forestry

Andrew Swafford is a county commissioner in Bledsoe County, Tennessee and at the time of this writing he is 25 years old. Andrew is also the owner of three chicken houses, a 749 acre plot of timber, a forestry business called Four Aims Forestry and a graduate student at the University Of Georgia. He clearly is a high achiever, and this is something that we at the Off-Farm Income Podcast have known for almost a decade.

Andy, as he likes to be called, first appeared on the show in 2015 as a recently graduated high school student with a bee business called Andy’s Bee Keeping. Back then he was collected, bottling and selling honey to customers all around his community in Tennessee. He was just getting ready to begin college at the University Of Tennessee back then, and oh how far he has gone since then!

I like to see the progress the guests on the Off-Farm Income Podcast have made from time to time, and I was blown away when I read Andy’s resume on Linkedin. I am happy to welcome him back onto the show today to give us the details on the journey that he has been on and what is next to come!

The show notes from Andy’s first appearance on the show are below:

INTRODUCING ANDREW SWAFFORD!

Andrew Swafford graduated from Bledsoe County High School in June of 2015. He is now at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He is still active in FFA and still participating in an SAE project.

Andrew started his own business with honey that he was producing on his own property called Andy’s Bee Keeping. He is selling honey, lip-balm and hand salves. He is marketing his products in stores, on social media and on his own website. But that was not what impressed me the most. Andy wants to grow his business to the point that he does not have to work another job. Then he wants to build his own lab and develop technology that will help to solve world food shortages. That is a long way from where I was when I was 18 years old!

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Andy’s Bee Keeping – Honey Production and Product Sales

HIGH SCHOOL: Bledsoe County High School, Pikeville, TN

COLLEGE: University of Tennessee, Knoxville

HIGH SCHOOL MASCOT: Warriors

FFA ADVISOR: Ronny Collier

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR ANDREW SWAFFORD:

Click on the picture below to be taken to the Bledsoe County High School Website:

Andrew’s FFA Advisor’s Email Address: LINK

Bledsoe High School Telephone Number: 423-447-6370

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE’s)

Support FFA

Donate to FFA – One way that FFA students are able to start small businesses is through an FFA grant of $1,000. In 2014, 141 FFA students received these grants. With your donations, more students can get this head start – pay it forward. REASONS TO

DONATE TO FFA:

Only 2% of Americans grow and raise most of the food and livestock consumed by the other 98% as well as the rest of the world. FFA is providing the needed education, training and resources to Americans that will carry that torch forward and insure that America continues to have inexpensive, quality food.
Rural Communities will rely on entrepreneurship in the future for population growth and job creation. The FFA is a major catalyst to that entrepreneurial growth.
Farmers, ranchers and those working in agriculture give the rest of America incredible amounts of freedom because the search for food is as simple as going to the grocery store:

“Because American farmers are able to provide for so many of us, they give more and more of us the freedom to pursue goals and livelihoods beyond growing the food we need to survive.”

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack