by Fred Scott
I’ve learned more about potatoes in the last few months than I ever thought I’d know in my lifetime.
I’m proud to announce that I have joined Summertime Farms as director of sales and marketing. For the last decade, I built my clothing company, Locally Grown Clothing Co., from the ground up. What started as a hobby selling shirts at farmers markets grew into a successful business. I recently decided to sell the business and get out of the clothing game but by the time I did, Locally Grown was in over 800 retail doors across the country, from boutiques, specialty outdoor stores, co-ops and grocers to national retailers such as Whole Foods and REI. It was a great run and a lot of fun and I made some great relationships.
Working to promote local and all things Iowa was a passion for me and spending time at those markets and meeting farmers sparked my interest in sustainable agriculture and supporting family farms which led me to do my own research on their importance not only to the state of Iowa, but the entire US. When I met Ron and Becky it seemed like a natural fit to join the Summertime team. Their core values aligned perfectly with mine. I’m new to the industry but very excited to be here. There’s a lot to learn but if there’s anyone it makes sense to learn it from, it’s these two.
A lifelong Iowan, I grew up in Spencer, a small town in the northwest corner of the state. I have a serious sense of pride in being from Iowa and the hard-working, authentic, Iowa-nice attitude that most of us here have. Summertime Farms represents all that and makes me proud to be in the industry. Ron talks about how much relationships matter, and I could not agree more. Being genuine and personable and standing behind your word are what this company stands for and is really what differentiates Summertime in the industry. No one here is a stranger to hard work and we’re all passionate about what we do. That is what will carry the Summertime brand far.
The way I grew my clothing company was by going door to door to retailers, meeting at trade shows and making personal connections. COVID-19 has made that part of this new role much more difficult. Despite that, Summertime’s message of authenticity, the strength of the product and our personable service will help me create new and lasting relationships. Ron has a vision for this company, and we’ve set some big goals that we are working to make a reality. I understand the challenges that come with scaling up a business. Growing the Summertime Farms brand while transitioning to a grower, packer, shipper as well as growing our retail presence are a serious focus for us. Broadening our network of distributors and retailers is also very high on our list of goals. We’ve got some great customers and partners already and we look forward to cultivating even more relationships.
We want people to understand that we are the potato experts in the Midwest. Summertime has been the premier potato company in Iowa for 47 years. Now we want to become the go-to potato company for retailers, wholesale distributors and processors throughout the nation. We want to be top of mind for everyone in the business. This doesn’t happen overnight, but the building blocks are in place for success.
I’m a big believer in doing what you love. I did that with Locally Grown and that’s what Ron does with Summertime. I’d be naïve to say there won’t be more challenges in learning a new industry but I’m ready and willing to face them head on to help get Summertime Farms to the next level. At the end of the day, it’s not just about potatoes. It’s about doing what you love and being proud of what you do every day.