Have you noticed that days are noticeably longer? Did you know that June is the month with the longest daylight hours of the year in the Northern Hemisphere? As the longest day of the year, June 21 officially marks the first day of summer. We all practice the farmer’s maxim, “Whan the sunne shynth make hey.” In other words, take advantage of favorable circumstances like the blessings of good weather. The practical yet entrepreneurial nature of farmers is evidenced in many other business endeavors.
The visionary Maryland developer Jim Rouse, who among other things brought us the planned community of Columbia, MD, now with a population of almost 100,000, the size of St. Mary’s County. Rouse once said, “Every problem is a challenge and every challenge an opportunity.” and imagined “live, work, enjoy” neighborhoods decades before the phrase became popular. His foresight has been particularly helpful with $4 per gallon gas. The mixed-use village concept is Rouse’s vision played out in the 21st Century, see www.columbia-md.com/columbiaindex.html.
This past week I had the very special opportunity to hear from two other Maryland entrepreneurs. Paul Reed Smith founded PRS Guitars, see http://prsguitars.com and http://prsguitars.com/inside/history.html. His company has grown from very humble beginnings, the genesis being a custom guitar he built as a student at our own St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Today PRS Guitars is a $38 million firm with more than 200 employees and growing at 15% annually. Their products are recognized around the globe for distinctively high craftsmanship and very warm tonal quality. Carlos Santana is very selective about the instrument he plays (a PRS of course).
Jim Perdue is now the 3rd generation Perdue to lead Perdue Farms, another global leader in their field, see www.perdue.com and www.perdue.com/company/history/index.html. Did you know that Perdue is privately held? Did you also know that poultry is the largest segment of Maryland agriculture representing about half of the entire industry? Finally, did you know that Perdue is the single largest buyer of grains (corn and soy beans in particular) from our local farmers here in St. Mary’s County? Grains are used for chicken feed. It takes a lot of feed to grow chickens. In fact, feed is the single largest cost factor in chicken production. Perdue employs 22,000 around the world.
I encourage you to learn more about the Rouse, PRS, and Perdue stories. Each is unique. At the same time all three share similar threads and follow the farmer’s maxim to make the very best of the conditions presented.
Make hay this week!