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CapitalPress.com
Friday, December 13, 2019
FOUR STEPS TO FINANCIAL HEALTH
STEP 1: Pick the right lawyer STEP 2:
Choosing
a banker
By KRISTINE THOMAS
For the Capital Press
Brenna Wiegand/For the Capital Press
Neal, Pamela and Lauren Lucht of Northwest Transplants in Molalla, Ore., in a green-
house full of young vegetable plants. Lauren is the CEO of the operation.
& Wyatt, has been practic-
ing business and organiza-
tional law, helping design
and develop small business
and public and private insti-
tutions and associations for
40 years. He concentrates
his practice in business and
property law with a spe-
cial emphasis on private,
nonprofit and quasi-public
entities.
“Managing a modern
family-owned farm or ranch
is a team sport,” Hobson
said. “Farmers and ranch-
ers should take the time and
spend the money to develop
a relationship with your own
team of professionals so that
when the time comes and
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The majority of his cli-
ents are individual farmers
or forest owners, or entities
that represent their interests.
Hobson helped develop the
structure and function of the
Oregon Farm Bureau over
the years, including devel-
opment of a nationally rec-
ognized legal advocacy pro-
gram. He also helped create
the Oregon Agricultural Edu-
cation Foundation and the
Oregon Agricultural Legal
Foundation.
“Life is not getting any
easier,” Hobson shared.
“When you encounter a
bump along the road you
need good professional
advice. Many rules and reg-
ulations are not intuitive any-
more and before you respond
to something you need to talk
to someone about the issue
who knows what to say and
what not to say.”
Over the years, Hobson
said lawyers have become
more specialized. What own-
ers of agricultural businesses
need to start with is a good
business lawyer.
“Like the primary care
physician, you want a busi-
ness lawyer who can handle
your general business and
real estate needs and who
can then refer you out for
more specialized services,”
he said.
Along with expertise, a
lawyer can provide a cli-
ent with objectivity. “That
is something you cannot
bring to a situation that you
are involved in,” Hobson
said. “You need a profes-
sional who can give insight
and objectivity in a tough
situation.”
Every farmer knows some
crops grow better in some
regions of their state than
other regions. The same can
be said about people. Some
people can work together to
grow a business while oth-
ers cannot. Hobson said
assuming a common level
of competence, the biggest
issue when selecting a law-
yer is whether you can work
together.
“More than anything else,
choosing a lawyer is a ques-
tion of style,” Hobson said.
“There are so many lawyers
available you should be able
to find one that you are com-
fortable working with.”
Hobson said most farmers
want to be able to pass their
farm on to the next genera-
tion. For that reason, he said
the lawyer needs to be well-
versed in succession plan-
ning techniques for farmers
and ranchers.
“An aspect of succession
planning is estate planning,”
Hobson said. “Therefore,
the lawyer should be able to
handle estate planning at the
level required for the opera-
tion or have someone with
estate planning expertise
who can be added to the legal
team to make sure the suc-
cession plan and the estate
plan work together well.”
Doug W. Schuster of
St. John, Wash., said he
didn’t pick his banker out
of the yellow pages.
Instead, his banker, as
well as his lawyer and
accountant, are people
with whom he has culti-
vated longstanding pro-
fessional and personal
relationships.
A graduate of Wash-
ington State University,
Schuster said it’s import-
ant for him to have a rela-
tionship with his banker,
lawyer and accountant
that goes beyond busi-
ness. During the year, he
plays golf with them and
attends football and bas-
ketball games.
“I do these things at
least once during the year
with my bankers, accoun-
tant and my field manager.
I think it helps to keep
the relationship real,” he
said. “These people have
big titles, but they are all
just real people with real
lives and wives and kids
and the whole nine yards.
Spending time with them
outside of the work rela-
tionship is very helpful to
keep them as friends as
well as advisors.”
Schuster, 55, has about
1,100 acres in produc-
tion and grows wheat,
barley, peas, canola,
alfalfa and grass hay. He
also has a herd of about
80 cows. He said bank-
ing and crop consulting
are the two services that
are most essential to his
operation.
His agronomy advisor
keeps an eye on his fields
throughout the year, mak-
ing sure he doesn’t have
any problems with pests
or weeds or any other
issue that may arise.
His banker keeps an
eye on his finances and
makes sure he has what
he needs when he needs
it.
“The ability to access
money for an operating
line or a quick loan for
a piece of equipment is
critical,” Schuster said.
“Both of my banks are
just a phone call away
and now I can even just
send a text to move
money around to cover
big bills and other unex-
pected needs.”
Recently, Dave Spec-
ter of Bells Up Winery
in Newberg, Ore., evalu-
ated several banks before
deciding where to switch
his accounts.
A former corporate
tax attorney, Specter said
when agricultural busi-
nesses are looking for a
professional service pro-
vider, they should find
one that specializes in
the issues involving their
business. He talked to
other
winery/vineyard
owners who were similar
in size to his winery oper-
ation about their experi-
ences — both good and
bad — with bankers and
financial partners. Before
deciding on whom to
hire, he identified three
potential providers and
arranged meetings to
introduce himself and
his operation, discussed
the issues he is facing
and what his needs and
expectations are of the
provider.
“You’ll probably get a
good feel for who is lis-
tening and thinking pro-
actively on your behalf
and hopefully antic-
ipating some poten-
tial issues you’ll have in
the long term,” Specter
said.
On the financial side,
Specter said it’s import-
ant to find a banking/
financial partner that
understands and is inter-
ested in working with
the needs of your busi-
ness, whether it’s large or
small.
“We recently expanded
our small winery oper-
ation to add some pro-
duction
equipment,
which required financ-
ing. Although our needs
weren’t
particularly
extensive and the finan-
cial fundamentals of the
business are solid, we
found that every large
national financial insti-
tution we approached —
including ones where we
had established bank-
ing relationships — had
no interest in working
with an operation of our
size,” Specter said. “Con-
versely, every local and
regional institution wel-
comed us with open arms
and worked hard to get us
the money we needed at
a reasonable rate. Those
institutions ended up
getting all our business,
including our personal
business, as a result of
that experience.”
S155419-1
By KRISTINE THOMAS
For the Capital Press
S155795-1
Believing in the future of
agriculture, Lauren Lucht
assumed the responsibil-
ities of Northwest Trans-
plants from her parents. As
the operating CEO, Lucht
said the Molalla-based com-
pany grows a total of about
90 million vegetable, herb
and flower seedlings on con-
tract for growers throughout
the Northwest.
Because farmers already
wear multiple hats through-
out the day, Lucht said it’s
important they enlist strong
partners to help them in areas
such as legal assistance.
“Don’t only come to them
with problems, many times
they can help you identify
and avoid challenges,” she
said.
Lucht looks for profes-
sionals with whom she can
have difficult and honest
conversations. She advises
farmers to make sure the
attorney they hire values
their time as much you do
their time.
“If they aren’t willing
to visit the farm to see the
operation in action, I find
that concerning,” Lucht
said. “It’s important to build
strong relationships because
you never know when they
will be bailing you out.”
Joe Hobson, a share-
holder and business attorney
with Schwabe Williamson