1. Don Hofstrand

2. Ag Ventures Alliance A Development Organization for Value-added
for Value-added
Agricultural Ventures

3. Ag Ventures Alliance Mission
To facilitate the development of value-added agricultural business ventures

4. Ag Ventures Alliance 1) Create new value-added business ventures.
2) Assist existing value-added businesses develop and expand.

6. Ag Ventures Alliance MMembership · $250 initial investment
·     $0 to $50 per year thereafter
·     Membership list is confidential

7. Ag Ventures Alliance
Current Membership
1,153
Accredited Investors
426

8. Ag Ventures Alliance Membership Distribution1 5 1 22 82 91 76 14 5 1
197 5 9 81
133 56 22 5 2 1 2 4 11 8 22 27 10 6 4 12 9 6 7 5 1 2 5 1 6 4 1 1 6 4 7 1 3 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 1

9. Ag Ventures Alliance Type of Members Percent Farmers 91 Farm Mgmt. 1
Cooperatives 2
Lenders 1
Organization 1
Landowner 2
Other 3

10. Past Projects Ag Ventures Alliance Golden Oval Eggs (1998-1999)
Midwest Grain Processors ( )
Golden Oval Eggs ( )
Minnesota Soybean Processors ( )

11. Golden Oval Eggs Ag Ventures Alliance 2.7 million bird facility
Integrated layer and breaker
Thompson, Iowa
Permitted for 5.5 million birds
700+ farmer members

13. Midwest Grain Processors
Ag Ventures Alliance
 Midwest Grain Processors
Agricultural Industrial Park
Ethanol production facility
45 million gallons
16 million bushels of corn
900+ farmer investors
Investigating additional corn processing
Lakota, Iowa

15. Minnesota Soybean Processors
Ag Ventures Alliance
 Minnesota Soybean Processors
Soybean processing plant
100,000 bu. per day
Brewster, Minnesota
2000+ farmer members
Oil refinery

17. Ag Ventures Alliance Current Projects
Northern Iowa Dairy Development Committee
Aqua-Ventures
SoyEx
Brazil Ag Enterprises
Energy Committee
Other

18. New Markets Tax Credit Program
Ag Ventures Alliance
New Markets Tax Credit Program
(NMTC)

19. New Markets Tax Credit Program
Ag Ventures Alliance
New Markets Tax Credit Program
39 percent Federal Tax Credit
Over seven years
5% in each of years 1-3
6% in each of years 4-7
Located in “low income communities”

20. Benefits of the Tax Credit
Ag Ventures Alliance
Benefits of the Tax Credit
Easier to attract equity capital
Lenders can provide loans with lower interest rates or more favorable terms.

21. Rural Development Partners LLC
Ag Ventures Alliance
Rural Development Partners LLC
Subsidiary of Ag Ventures Alliance
Community Development Entity (CDE)
Applied for NMTC allocation
Received allocation of $44.7 million
Value-added businesses located in rural areas
National service area

22. Has it been successful? Ag Ventures Alliance

23. Value of Business Development Producer Alliances (leaders)
Interact with others with similar interests
Idea synergies
Build leadership (champion) skills
Build business creation skills
Building relationships with other organizations, businesses

24. Value of Business Development Producer Alliances (leaders continued)
Funds to investigate business ideas
Equity capital
Bull-pen business ideas until market and/or technology timing is right

25. Value of Business Development Producer Alliances (Members)
Access to value-added information/education
Direct notification of value-added business opportunities.
Potentially better quality business ventures
Array of business opportunities
Build business evaluation skills