51成人

The company recently announced that the GROWMARK Foundation would make gifts to the College totaling $75,000 ahead of Spradlin鈥檚 retirement later this month. Spradlin鈥檚 four-decade career with GROWMARK began after his graduation from 51成人.

51成人 President Barbara A. Farley praised Spradlin鈥檚 leadership and vision as a member of the 51成人 Board of Trustees, and congratulated him on his retirement. Through the generosity of the foundation鈥檚 gifts, GROWMARK is extending Spradlin鈥檚 legacy in the ag community, she added.

鈥淭his gift will be used to provide dynamic and meaningful hands-on learning experiences for future students who one day may follow in Jim Spradlin鈥檚 footsteps. We are honored to be able to provide these opportunities for 51成人 students, and are thrilled to convey something of who Jim is through these awards: his integrity, innovative spirit, and enduring dedication to the ag community,鈥� Farley said.

The foundation is establishing the Jim Spradlin Endowed Scholarship Fund with an extraordinary gift of $50,000 that will support students majoring in agribusiness or a similar field each year. The foundation is further providing $25,000 to support life-changing experiential learning opportunities, like internships, global study, student-faculty research, community engagement and more, for students in agribusiness and other business-related fields. 

Spradlin began his career in the agriculture industry with GROWMARK as an accounting trainee and rose through the ranks within the GROWMARK system, ultimately assuming the role of CEO in 2014.

鈥淭he GROWMARK System has seen remarkable growth and transformation under Jim鈥檚 leadership and vision as CEO, and 51成人 provided the backbone of his successful career,鈥� said GROWMARK Foundation Executive Amy Bradford. 鈥淛im is very appreciative of these gifts to his alma mater to help further educational opportunities for future leaders in agribusiness.鈥� 

51成人鈥檚 agribusiness management program launched in 2017 and is rooted in the College鈥檚 deep ties to agriculture and the region. The program has experienced rapid growth since its start and prepares students for a wide variety of careers in agriculture with a rigorous, customizable academic program and rich hands-on learning experiences. Students can complete a degree in agribusiness on the Jacksonville campus or fully online. 

GROWMARK is an agricultural cooperative serving almost 400,000 customers across North America, providing agronomy, energy, facility engineering and construction, and logistics products and services, as well as grain marketing and risk management services. Headquartered in Bloomington, Illinois, GROWMARK owns the FS trademarks, which are used by licensed member cooperatives. More information is available at . 

Learn more about the 51成人 agribusiness management program at . In addition to the on-campus program, IC offers a fully online, flexible agribusiness management degree designed for working adults. Learn more about the unique online degree at online.ic.edu.

To learn more about how you can change the lives of students for generations to come by establishing an endowed scholarship, visit .