Sept. 17, 2025
This piece is sponsored by Prairie Family Business Association.
Family business leader T.J. Russell acknowledges that he heard the message loud and clear – but didn’t want to listen to it at first.
“Let’s be honest. Family businesses don’t like bosses,” said Russell, fourth-generation chairman of Cloverdale Foods.
“We don’t like being accountable to someone.”
So when the topic of a board of directors came up – as it often did in his interactions with the Prairie Family Business Association – it admittedly was an uncomfortable subject for him.
But after hearing enough about the value, including from family businesses he admires, Cloverdale Foods formed an advisory board.
“I’m so glad we did it when we did it,” he said. “Our executive team now has three unbelievable people in business they can bounce ideas off.”
It was a similar story for Garrett Smith, co-owner and board member of American Pop Corn Co., who along with his cousin Carlton ran the maker of Jolly Time Popcorn for 20 years. They hired three independent directors a few years ago.
“There’s three of them and two of us, so it limits our power, and it has changed our company,” he said. “There’s more accountability from top to bottom.”
The stories resonated recently when Stephanie Larscheid, executive director of the Prairie Family Business Association, presented to a national audience at the Farm Credit Services Executive Summit.
“These are farm and agribusiness families with big, multigenerational operations, and they right away saw how this could be an asset,” she said. “They recognize how a board can add value to a business.”
Prairie Family Business Association is able to help connect member families with the resources they need to establish a board.
“We have a board directory that includes people who have family business experience either as a family member or key nonfamily member,” Larscheid said.
“And we can connect families with a consultant who can assist with everything from setting up the board to helping facilitate ongoing meetings. Families are busy running the day-to-day operation and also generally don’t have expertise in this area, so it can help to work with a professional.”
When Cloverdale Foods formed its board, “there were well over 100 interested applicants for an advisory board position,” Russell said.
Their consultant helped narrow them down to about two dozen, and from there a handful were interviewed.
“The executive team presents to the advisory board every quarter. They work hard at preparing for it and are getting more comfortable with it, and our advisory board is not just there to listen,” Russell said. “They will stop a meeting and ask questions and say: ‘Why? Why did you do that?’”
Steffes, an original equipment manufacturer specializing in steel fabrication and electrical services, has seen that effectiveness since its board began in the 1980s.
The board now includes seven members and multiple committees overseeing areas such as audit and finance, governance, innovation and compensation.
“We’re kind of big right now, but we’ve been going through some growth in our company, and we’ve had more committees created – subcommittees in our board to best delegate that amongst our board members, and we felt growth was important for our board,” said Suzi Sobolik, a third-generation owner.
She attended Prairie Family Business Association’s board school and took away several best practices.
“They shared board surveys about compensation, and that helped us figure it out,” she said. “Prairie Family Business has been a good resource for us.”
For Jennifer Edney, a fourth-generation member of Edney Distributing Co. Inc., forming a board provided the oversight she felt she needed in leading the company and succeeding her parents.
“She wanted a situation where it wasn’t her reporting to Mom and Dad. It was her being held accountable by a group of people who didn’t share her last name, so she was earning the right to be CEO through a board structure,” Larscheid said.
The move came at the right time for multiple reasons, Edney said.
The business itself was becoming more complex, and the team was growing as she took over as CEO.
“I really felt a sense of urgency that we needed more perspective and more experienced people to contribute … to our board and help us chart the strategic direction of our company,” she said.
A board can be key in the short term as well as in long-term sustainability, Larscheid added.
“That was the case with American Pop Corn Co. The accountability piece was huge,” she said. “If it was going to make it to the fifth generation, the structure had to change. And now the fifth generation is really enthused by having the board. The fourth generation tells us it’s changed things in terms of culture and put them in a position for the business to live on.”
Utilizing an independent board is something businesses shouldn’t enter into lightly, Smith added.
“It can and probably will force major changes in the company, and you’ve got to be ready for it,” he said. “As hard as it is for me to watch some of these changes, it’s the right thing for the company’s long-term success.”
That can be hard for farm and agribusiness families too, Larscheid said.
“That’s why we’re glad to be in a position to offer resources that can help,” she said. “They apply to operations of all sizes, whether you’re looking for help with family communication and transition planning or ready to develop an action plan that will lead you to working with a board. Once we connect, we can show you resources tailored to your particular family’s situation and needs.”
To learn more about how the Prairie Family Business Association can support your family business journey through the generations, visit fambus.org, or contact assistant director Mason Van Essen at mason.vanessen@usd.edu or 605-274-9519.
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These successful family businesses have something in common — and it’s powerful enough that “it has changed our company.”
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