FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE :
Nov. 6, 2007
For more information contact:
Cindy Garretson-Weibel
Agribusiness Division Manager
Wyoming Business Council
Phone: 307.777.6589
Kim Porter
LEAD Program Manager
Wyoming Business Council
Phone: 307.777.6319
LEAD Class 10 named by Wyoming Business Council
CHEYENNE – Seventeen Wyoming men and women will compose Class 10 of the Wyoming Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) program, the state’s longest running adult leadership program.
LEAD assists adults involved in agriculture to become more effective leaders in community activities, agricultural issues and policies. LEAD is sponsored by the Wyoming Business Council’s Agribusiness Division and the Wyoming Agricultural Leadership Council (WALC). According to Cindy Garretson-Weibel, Wyoming Business Council Agribusiness Director, the class will undergo an 18-month training program which began in October. Throughout the program, fellows will participate in 12 educational seminars in an effort to enhance their leadership skills and understanding of all aspects of agriculture and policy making. Ten seminars will take place throughout Wyoming, with another in Washington, D.C. and an international study seminar held near the end of the program. The fellows will devote more than 55 days to the study seminars and special project assignments.
The current class of fellows is made up of:
Justin Byelich of Cheyenne, who owns Four Corners Siding, LLC and would love to return to ag at some point. Byelich grew up on a farm in which his family raised beef and alfalfa. Byelich attended Alpena Community College in Alpena, MI before moving to Cheyenne.
Cheyenne resident Laura Dalles holds her B.S. from the University of Wyoming in sports marketing and promotion, as well as a B.A. in elementary education. Currently the Pinedale native is the southern field representative for the Wyoming Stock Growers Agriculture Land Trust. Dalles has a daughter.
Samantha Dyer of Casper is an AgDirect relationship officer for Farm Credit Services of America and holds her A.A. in agriculture from Casper College and a B.S. in animal business from Texas Tech. This former assistant coach for the Livestock Judging Team at Casper College was raised on a purebred cow/calf ranch in western Nebraska.
Pine Bluffs resident Laura Fornstrom and her husband, Todd, own a farm which produces corn, wheat, alfalfa, dry edible beans and 73 ewes. The Fornstrom family also has a cattle and sheep feedlot. The Laramie County Community College and Northwest College grad is also the office manager and book keeper for Chubb Trucking.
Carla Hubbard of Ten Sleep carries a B.S. in agbusiness from California Polytechnic State University, as well as an accounting certification. Hubbard is now an administrator at the Wyoming Pipeline Authority after growing up on an alfalfa farm and working horse sales in college. She continues to be involved in her sheep and cattle ranch near Ten Sleep.
Pine Bluffs residents Clint Jessen is the owner of Jessen Wheat Farms, along with his wife, Jessica. The ranch is a 100 percent certified organic operation and features wheat, oats, alfalfa, hay, millet and straw. When he is not working the ranch, Jessen also owns Hayworks, Inc., a hay equipment repair shop. The Jessen’s have one son.
Pak Landers of Cheyenne holds a B.S. in animal science and range science from the University of Wyoming and is a native of Laramie County where his family continues to run heifers and pairs. Landers is currently an operator/laborer with Mechanical Systems, Inc.
Albin’s Monte Lerwick currently runs an operation with 200 black baldy cows, seven Charolais bulls, as well as hay, winter wheat, sunflowers, millet and oats. Lerwick holds his B.S. in civil engineering from the University of Wyoming.
Gloria Mathis of Wheatland serves as the controller for the Platte County Sheriff’s Office in Wheatland in addition to working on the cow-calf operation she maintains with her husband, Roy. Mathis attended both Eastern Wyoming College (computer science) as well as the University of Wyoming (english composition). Gloria and her husband have four children.
Scott McDonald of Cheyenne holds a B.S. in agbusiness from the University of Wyoming and is the executive director of the Wyoming Future Farmers of America Foundation. The Riverton native grew up on an alfalfa, barley, bean and oat farm and spent time with the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service prior to his time at Wyoming FFA Foundation.
Kosha Olsen of Cheyenne is the communications and publications director for the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. Olsen holds an Associate degree in journalism from Northwest College and a B.S. in communications and public relations from Kean College in Union, NJ. She is married to husband, Brian Olsen.
Ron Pulley of Huntley has been in agriculture for the past 39 years, raising wheat for the past 11. Prior to that Pulley, who owns degrees in psychology and economics from Pacific University, spent time in Nebraska, Colorado and Iowa raising cattle and hogs. Pulley is married to his wife, Lynne.
Saratoga rancher Jennifer Reyes-Burr grew up on a ranch near Wheatland and spent the summer of 2003 working on a 20,000-head feedlot in Australia. Since returning to the United States, she has collected her B.S. in animal and vet science from the University of Wyoming and is managing the Cuba-Libre Ranch. She is married to her husband, Mick.
Erin Smith of Lusk also carries a B.S in animal and vet science from the University of Wyoming. Smith grew up on a ranch near Lusk and worked at Rose Valley Ranch in Colorado and Oklahoma for three years conditioning and exercising horses. She is the premises registration specialist for the Wyoming Livestock Board.
Cheryl Summer of Buffalo is a sales associate for Pearson Real Estate Co., which features ranch and recreational real estate. Summer is a Michigan native who grew up on a family farm which raised dairy and beef cattle as well as horses, row crops, small grains and forage. Summer, who owns her B.S. and M.S. from Michigan State, spends some of her free time as a ranch hand on Brock Ranch near Kaycee.
Casper resident Andrea Sun is the marketing director with the Wyoming Livestock Roundup, in addition to her help in managing the family ranch. Sun has a B.S. in finance and economics with a minor in banking and financial services through the University of Wyoming.
Dalin Winters of Burlington continues to farm and ranch on the family farm near Otto. In addition to farming, Winters owns Superior Countertops. He and his wife, Hannah, have two children. Winters has degrees in ag business science and technology from Brigham Young University in Idaho, as well as a M.S. in agriculture and applied economics from the University of Wyoming.
L.E.A.D. was initiated in 1984 with a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to establish a rural leadership program. Nine classes totaling 154 men and women have graduated from the L.E.A.D. program since its inception.
The mission of the Wyoming Business Council is to facilitate the economic growth of Wyoming. For more information, please visit the Web site at www.wyomingbusiness.org.
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