SHOW NOTES

INTRODUCING MATT DYKSTRA! 

I am privileged to be a judge of SAE grant applications every year, and I see the quality of applications that come in from around the country.  Our guest today is a sophomore in high school and was recently awarded his second $1,000 grant for his entrepreneurship supervised agricultural experience.

Matt Dykstra has grown up working the construction industry with his father.  When Matt entered the FFA and found out about the requirement for a supervised agricultural experience, putting his construction skills to work in his own business seemed like a natural fit.  This led to the beginning of “MD Building”.

Matt still works with his father on larger construction projects.  However, he has found a niche with smaller jobs such as building fences and doing landscaping for MD Building.

When Matt is working in his own business, he does not have the benefit of using his father’s tools, because those are being used on a different job site.  This led Matt to apply for an SAE grant both his freshman and his sophomore year.  He was awarded $1,000 grants on both occasions, and this allowed him to purchase his own DeWalt construction tools.

Thanks to Matt’s vision he has already started a business that could serve him for the rest of his life if that is what he chooses.  And, thanks to the grants he has one of the biggest obstacles, the purchase of equipment, already accomplished.

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Construction

HIGH SCHOOL: Randolph High School; Randolph, Wisconsin

MASCOT: Rockets

FFA ADVISOR: Keith Gundlach

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR MATT: Click on the picture below to be taken to the Randolph High School website:

Matt’s FFA Advisors’ Email Addresses: gundlachk@rsdwi.org

Randolph High School’s Telephone Number: 920-326-2425

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 

Where Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald Can Be Heard:

 Member Of The National Association Of Farm Broadcasters