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2 CapitalPress.com September 4, 2015 People & Places Family company changes with the times R.M. Wade Co. evolves during 150 years of innovation By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press The R.M. Wade & Co. has long been venturing into new frontiers. Founder Robert Marshall Wade was an Oregon Trail pi- oneer who began his career by peddling goods to gold miners out of a tent in California. Wade’s business evolved and relocated over time, even- tually selling implements to farmers in Oregon’s Willa- mette Valley. Since then, the company has continued to transform. Now in its 150th year, the firm is still run by R.M. Wade’s descendants, but its focus has shifted to distrib- uting irrigation equipment in far-flung international mar- kets. “You have to reorga- nize it from time to time,” said Edward H. Newbegin, great-grandson of R.M. Wade and president of the company, which now does business un- der the Wade Rain moniker. When the company was founded in 1865, the U.S. was entering an era of revolution- ary agricultural innovation. R.M. Wade introduced Or- egon farmers to many of these mechanized inventions, such as horse-driven seeders, reap- ers, manure spreaders, thresh- ers and other implements. The modernization trend continued under the leader- ship of Edward J. Newbegin, R.M. Wade’s son-in-law, and later Wade Newbegin, the founder’s grandson. With the advent of porta- ble fuel-powered engines, the company began to capitalize on machine-powered vehicles and implements. R.M. Wade & Co. brought early tractor models, such as the Heider and Fordson, to Northwest growers who were able to afford improving on the efficiency of the draft Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press Edward Newbegin, president of R.M. Wade & Co. and great-grandson of the company’s founder, stands in front of some irrigation equipment that the company sells in international markets. The com- pany has been operated by the same family for 150 years. Western Innovator R.M. Wade & Co. Founded: 1865 Family ownership: Five generations Headquarters: Tualatin, Ore. Employees: 120 Annual sales: $41 million International subsidiaries: Mexico, Peru, Tanzania Company history website: www.rmwade150.com horse. While such machinery certainly accelerated the ef- fectiveness of American ag- riculture, it did not prevent the company from struggling through hard times. A plunge in crop prices in the 1920s was followed by the Great Depression, leaving R.M. Wade & Co. with excess inventories as the demand for farm equipment contracted. Wade Newbegin, by then running the company, was able to keep it alive by closing branches, slashing expenses and liquidating inventory — often at steep discounts — to generate cash. “His purpose was to build the company, which he did a great job at,” said Edward H. Newbegin, his son. The company’s fortunes improved and in 1936 the FFA officers answer public’s questions at Oregon State Fair By JAN JACKSON For the Capital Press SALEM — Ag youth at its best was on display opening day at the 150th an- nual Oregon State Fair. While 4-H Club and FFA exhibitors worked with their animals in the stalls, pens and show rings, the 2015 FFA officers positioned themselves up front in an in- formation booth and orches- trated much of the action. They arrived before the fair started to help exhibi- tors move into the barns and they will stay after it’s over to help exhibitors move out. They were there to an- swer questions from the public and sent runners to the nearby FFA staff trailer if they didn’t have the answer. “Our focus this year is to help educate the public about FFA and its youth in the future of agriculture,” Luis Mendoza, state FFA president, said. “We are do- ing a lot of that here in our information booth here in the barn. We are also getting some new chapters started like reopening one at McK- ay High School in Salem and a new one in Portland that is excited about developing a rooftop garden project.” Mendoza said about 330 exhibitors from the 35 to 40 FFA chapters are involved in the fair this year who are showing an average of two Jan Jackson/For the Capital Press From left, the 2015 Oregon State FFA officers are Bailey Myers, Nyssa, state sentinel; Addie Howell, Jefferson, vice president; Alys- sa Smith, Elton, treasurer; Joe Matteo, Sutherlin, secretary; Ricky Molitor, Madras, reporter; and Luis Mendoza, Molalla, pesident. They are available at the Oregon State Fair, where they answer the public’s questions about agriculture. For more information Call 541-7.7-2.95 or email Emily@oregonffa.com. to three animals each. In addition, 20 members are competing in tractor driv- ing, 20 in livestock judg- ing and another 10 in horse judging. “These exhibitors are proud to show off their hard work on their projects and they love earning and taking home the champion ribbons to prove it,” Emily Kraz- berger, associate director of Calendar To submit an event go to the Community Events calendar on the home page of our website at www.capitalpress.com and click on “submit an event.” Calendar items can also be mailed to Capital Press, 1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem, OR 97.01. Through Monday, Sept. 7 Oregon State Fair, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Oregon Oregon FFA programs, said. “We’re all really proud of our state FFA officers for doing a great job of coordi- nating everything. They are extremely passionate about the future of agriculture and it shows in everything they do. They are doing a great job representing agricul- ture.” The National FFA Or- ganization is dedicated to making a positive differ- ence in the lives of students by developing their poten- tial for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. State Fairgrounds, Salem. Thursday, Sept. 10 Oregon State University Dairy Open House, 10 a.m.-. p.m. OSU Dairy, Corvallis, Ore. The OSU Dairy has been converting to a grazing-based operation. Thursday-Friday, Sept. 17-18 California Poultry Federation Annual Meeting and Conference, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monterey Plaza Hotel, Monterey, Calif. firm began manufacturing ir- rigation equipment that would be sold under the Wade Rain brand. Advances such as its “Poweroll” line of powered wheel-line sprinklers, devel- oped in the 1950s, helped the irrigation unit gain prom- inence, and the company expanded into center pivot systems in the 1970s and drip systems in the 1980s. Meanwhile, the firm con- tinued to distribute tractors and implements from other manufacturers. Wade Newbegin was al- ways looking for new products to introduce but didn’t market equipment until he was sure it was reliable, said Edward Newbegin. “He would very carefully test things.” The early 2000s brought major changes to the compa- ny. Its manufacturing divi- sion was having trouble with profitability, so the company decided to sell the unit to an- other firm in 2002. For succession planning purposes, the company’s farm equipment distribution unit was divided from the irriga- tion unit in 2004, becoming a separate firm that eventually re-oriented into real estate in- vestment. Such splits become neces- sary when a family company grows to include many share- holders with different visions for its future, Newbegin said. “The biggest tension is between reinvesting in the company and distributing the profits,” he said. Fortunately, the descen- dants of R.M. Wade were able to resolve the situation amicably, Newbegin said. “I think we had a strong ethic that family was more import- ant than the business.” While the early 2000s brought some endings for the company, an important new venture was also launched. In 2002, Newbegin’s son, John, opened a subsidiary company in Mexico to sell irrigation equipment, which the company now sources from other manufacturers. The operation flour- ished, growing to 15 branch locations, and now rep- resents roughly 60 percent of the overall company’s revenues. The Mexican subsidiary’s success prompted the com- pany to increasingly focus on exports — similar subsid- iaries were created in Peru in 2012 and in Tanzania this year. Wade Rain has long sold products to overseas import- ers, but the subsidiaries allow the company to sell directly in those markets. Newbegin characterizes the expansion into Tanzania as “a bit of a gamble” but he’s willing to take the risk because it’s a stable country with a need for irrigation. “I think our timing is right in Tanzania,” he said. Capital Press Established 1928 Board of directors Mike Forrester ..........................President Steve Forrester Kathryn Brown Sid Freeman .................. Outside director Mike Omeg .................... Outside director Corporate officer John Perry Chief operating officer Capital Press Managers Mike O’Brien .............................Publisher Joe Beach ..................................... Editor Elizabeth Yutzie Sell .... Advertising Director Carl Sampson ................Managing Editor Barbara Nipp ......... Production Manager Samantha McLaren .... Circulation Manager Entire contents copyright © 2015 EO Media Group dba Capital Press An independent newspaper published every Friday. Capital Press (ISSN 0740-.704) is published weekly by EO Media Group, 1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem OR 97.01. Periodicals postage paid at Portland, OR, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Capital Press, P.O. Box 2048 Salem, OR 97.08-2048. To Reach Us Toll free ............................. 800-882-6789 Main line ........................... 50.-.64-44.1 Fax ................................... 50.-.70-4.8. Advertising Fax ................ 50.-.64-2692 News Staff N. California Tim Hearden .................... 5.0-605-.072 E Idaho John O’Connell ................. 208-421-4.47 Idaho Carol Ryan Dumas .......... 208-860-.898 Boise Sean Ellis .......................... 208-914-8264 Central Washington Dan Wheat ........................ 509-699-9099 E Washington Matthew Weaver .............. 509-688-992. Oregon Eric Mortenson ................ 50.-412-8846 Mateusz Perkowski .......... 800-882-6789 Graphic artist Alan Kenaga ..................... 800-882-6789 To Place Classified Ads Ad fax .............................. 50.-.64-2692 or ...................................... 50.-.70-4.8. Telephone (toll free) .......... 866-4.5-2965 Online ......www.capitalpress.com/classifieds Subscriptions Mail rates paid in advance Easy Pay U.S. $..75/month (direct with- drawal from bank or credit card account) ‘FFA Way’ shows fair-goers what organization does By CRAIG REED For the Capital Press ROSEBURG, Ore. — The “FFA Way” display at this year’s Douglas County, Ore., Fair in early August was all about showing off the diversity of the program. The display was fronted by three 12-by-12-foot land- scape exhibits, created by teams of FFA students from Elkton, Oakland and Suther- lin, Ore. Concrete blocks, stepping stones, plants, shrubs, trees, bark mulch, water and chairs were all used to create clean, outdoor settings. Behind the landscape exhibits sat such items as a wood picnic table, Adiron- dack chairs, a 14-foot-long trailer and several tables with smaller items such as a boot jack, birdhouse, yard art, a pair of pliers and nu- merous other creations. To the left were wood and metal benches and several educa- tional posters that gave in- formation on such subjects as animal health, genetically modified organisms, cloning in agriculture and ticks and the diseases they are capable of spreading, Ninety-five FFA mem- bers from five Douglas County schools — Days Creek, Elkton, Glide, Oak- land and Sutherlin — cre- ated the “FFA Way” dis- play, using their developing metal and wood working skills and their agricultural Thursday-Sunday, Sept. 17-20 science knowledge. Wes Crawford, the ag- ricultural science teacher and FFA advisor at Suther- lin High, described the FFA display as impressive, but also important because it showed the visiting public that unlike years ago, there is more to the program than livestock. “The fair tradition pro- vides a one-dimensional view of FFA — livestock,” Crawford said. “This allows us to show all the different components in today’s ag program.” FFA was founded in 1925, but over the last cou- ple of decades, the program has diversified beyond an- imals. The changing times and interests in the food, fiber and natural resource industries — encompassing science, business, technolo- gy and production agricul- ture — were recognized in 1988 when the name was changed to National FFA Or- ganization, and the program became known simply as FFA. Michaella Black, a 17-year-old senior at Oak- land High School, said the diversity that FFA offers provides an option for just about everybody. “There are so many more paths to take now,” she said. She and Bryson Price, a 17-year-old senior at Suther- lin High, spent time at the display, answering questions and visiting with people. toolmakers and suppliers, try tools out, see equipment in action, and ask questions. Mount Angel Oktoberfest, 11 a.m.-11: 55 p.m., Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 3-4 Mount Angel, 1-855-899-6..8. Alpaca Harvest Fest, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Alpacas of Oregon, Sherwood, Ore., 50.-628-202.. Two farms, one convenient location. If you’re curious about starting a fiber farm or breeding fiber animals — sheep, goats, alpacas, llamas — we’ve raised them all and love to talk about them. Tuesday, Sept. 22 Small-Scale Equipment Field Day Noon-6 p.m. Oak Creek Center for Urban Hor- ticulture, Corvallis, 541-766-.556. This event will allow participants to connect with multiple 1 year U.S. ...................................$49.99 2 years U.S. .................................$89.99 1 year Canada .................................$275 1 year other countries ......... call for quote 1 year Internet only .......................$49.99 1 year 4-H, FFA students and teachers ....$.0 9 months 4-H, FFA students & teachers .....$25 Visa and Mastercard accepted To get information published Mailing address: Capital Press P.O. Box 2048 Salem, OR 97.08-2048 News: Contact the main office or news staff member closest to you, send the in- formation to newsroom@capitalpress.com or mail it to “Newsroom,” c/o Capital Press. Include a contact telephone number. Letters to the Editor: Send your comments on agriculture-related public issues to opinions@capitalpress.com, or mail your letter to “Opinion,” c/o Capital Press. Letters should be limited to .00 words. Deadline: Noon Monday. Capital Press ag media www.capitalpress.com www.FarmSeller.com www.AgDirectoryWest.com www.OnlyAg.com www.facebook.com/capitalpress www.facebook.com/farmseller www.facebook.com/onlyAGdotcom twitter.com/capitalpress www.youtube.com/capitalpressvideo www.blogriculture.com Index California ................................ 9 Dairy .................................... 16 Idaho ...................................... 9 Livestock ............................. 16 Markets ............................... 17 Opinion .................................. 6 Oregon ................................ 1. Safety ............................. 14-15 Washington ..........................11 Correction policy Accuracy is important to Capital Press staff and to our readers. If you see a misstatement, omission or factual error in a headline, story or photo caption, please call the Capital Press news department at 50.-.64-44.1, or send email to newsroom@capitalpress.com. 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