Regina's Perspective — It Takes a Team

Datasmart ribbon cutting

What a busy time it has been! Jerry and I just finished visiting the aerial ag conventions from October through February. It was so great to see everyone again and meet new friends as well. It seems like a small “family reunion” each time we go to one. Since Jerry started traveling with me, all of the vendors have gotten to know him well since most of them travel in the same group. Our company always works at being a convention sponsor whether we attend the convention or not in order to help each state out.

It’s fun to see how different conventions raise money. I try to post pics on Facebook and also speak out at vendor meetings to give others ideas that might help their fundraising causes. One of my favorites is the crawfish race in Louisiana where they paint numbers on live crawfish, raffle each one off for $100 and then dump them from a bucket to see who makes it to the finish line first. It’s always a blast although my crawfish always seems to be very lazy! Lol.

Our company has really been growing and we held our first one day “Training Seminar” in Jonesboro, Arkansas at the FNB Arena. I was so happy to see so many people attend from multiple states and they seemed engaged in the training. As I traveled to different states many people said they didn’t realize all of the things that our software Chem-Man would do so this is what prompted me to provide the seminar. One of the best things that I noticed were people connecting with each other and speaking out on different workflows. I love it when people can find ways to improve their work flow.

Another big event was the new building that Jerry and I purchased for the company. The day after the seminar, we had our grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony. It’s a lot bigger than the small building we were renting and we’re all so excited to be there. We even have a small gym! (Although I seem to be always too busy to make it to that particular office). It makes me really proud when I think back on the small room I had in the back of my father’s department store for 24 years. (Free rent really helped).

Our industry is alive and well! I see people that were just getting started as a company now are really growing. I see some companies buying out smaller companies and also buying out people that just want to retire. People have to find out what works best for them and go with it.

One thing that is for certain, technology is finally making its way into our industry. Some of the biggest improvements are GPS integration. I have been speaking to most of the GPS companies and they all seem interested in making a smoother transition from their system to software. USB drives will become a thing of the past and soon we will see your data transferred in a few clicks.

One thing that I’ve concluded and that we all know is that It takes a team to make it all work. I’ve seen PAASS presenters, convention organizers, social media organizers, Washington D.C. reps, vendors, the NAAA and many more. Thanks to everyone for all that you do to support our industry.

Louisiana’s crawfish race