Successful Entrepreneurs in Greene County

Entrepreneurs are alive and well in Greene County!

Read the true stories of innovative people who made it happen in Greene County Indiana.

DUANE & LESLIE SMITH: WALNUT GROVE SPRING WATER

The Walnut Grove Spring Water Company was born from the pursuit of the perfect persimmon. Walnut Grove’s breathtaking beauty seemed to call out to career bi-coastal business people Duane & Leslie Smith on a visit to their home state of Indiana. The couple longed to drink deeply themselves of the beauty and solitude the Walnut Grove area provides. Yielding a strategy for a retirement “fun” business, the couple planned to found the country’s only organized Wild American Persimmon farm in the unique fruit’s native habitat. Duane and Leslie realized their persimmon farm dream, aptly naming it Persimmon Valley Farms. However, the land had another gift for them – the Walnut Grove Spring. Initially thought of as simply a possible alternative water source for the Persimmon Farm, the couple had the water professionally tested to determine its quality. To their surprise, test after test indicated that not only could the couple use the water at the farm, but it was of the highest quality to be bottled and sold. The couple took a deliberate, gentle approach in exploring the possibilities of the spring, and spent the next eight years researching its formation and water quality.

Passing all tests with flying colors, the spring was found to be an endless supply of premium natural water. Keeping the water to themselves seemed a selfish move to the couple, and selling the spring to a conglomerate would compromise the natural beauty of the area. A vision was born to create a company of their own. The spring water is respectfully collected and hand-bottled into the perfectly portable habitat of the glass swing-top bottle using as little non-renewable energy as possible.

The company’s facilities complement the beauty of the area and fit in with its immaculate environment. It made a commitment to give back to the earth, society and the local economy. It is a company with an outlook as rare as the water itself and an example for others to follow.

The Walnut Grove Spring is one of only 2 certified natural spring sources in Indiana. It is the highest volume producing certified spring in the state (as well as one of the largest in the Midwest), flowing at a rate of 1,000+ gallons per minute (gpm) or 5.25M gallons per year. The company chooses to responsibly harvest the natural water at 1/10 of its natural capacity. The company is privately-held and has thwarted several corporate conglomerate purchase attempts in favor of creating a new company committed to setting new standards with regards to business practices. Walnut Grove Spring Water Company utilizes local people, materials and services at every opportunity, donates a percentage of gross sales to Farm Aid and other local charities and employs developmentally disabled workers to provide value-added manufacturing. Source: Walnut Grove Spring Water

SAWYER SPARKS: GREENE BIO-FUELS, LLC A young rural Bloomfield entrepreneur is seeing some of the fruits of his labor and vision blossom right before his eyes in the form of big brilliant, yellow-colored sunflowers. Sawyer Sparks, a sophomore agriculture economic student at Purdue University, is excited about the prospect of marketing his sunflower crop that will soon be transformed into locally-produced biodiesel fuel to serve Greene County customers. Sparks' new business venture goes by the name Greene Bio-Fuels. Unlike the recent technological push to produce bio-fuels from soybeans and corn, Sparks is promoting sunflowers as his alternative fuel source. "I've always wanted to be in production agriculture. It's hard to get started when you really don't have anything to get started with," Sparks said while looking over his sunflower field. "I had to look at what a niche market was -- what other people aren't doing. It was like no one else is growing sunflowers around here, so we tried it. Sparks' start-up cost for his first year's crop -- which was planted May 18, 2007 -- was about $10,000 and he's confident he can turn a profit in the 120-day growing season.

"We'll get about $13,000 out of it," the 20-year-old student predicted. Sparks hopes to develop a Greene County market for his biofuel. "I'm taking the sunflower seeds and I'm going to crush them. I'm going to harvest them with a regular combine. "Hopefully by next year, this will be much bigger. I've already got some more land lined up." Sparks partnered with one of his school buddies, Alex Weathers, in acquiring the land. Weathers, also a sophomore at Purdue, helped with the planting in the spring. The planting was done with the help of a conventional old corn planter that was a gift from the White River Valley High School FFA program.

The sunflowers were planted in 30-inch rows with a four-row planter. There were some early problems with Japanese beetles eating some of the heads off the plants, but the problem was not widespread. "Bees are pollinating it and that's real good," Sparks said. "Other than the beetles, there haven't been any real problems. This is the perfect kind of ground for this -- moderate sandy/clay." The field has previously been planted in both corn and soybeans and sat idle last growing season. "You can double crop these with wheat right after this," he pointed out. Sparks said he did a lot of research leading up to the actual planting and talked to professors at school and agriculture experts throughout the state. They say sunflower oil will work as an alternate fuel source. It's more popular in western states, but the idea is catching on in the so-called "Corn Belt". "Anything that I came up with, I had to prove myself wrong," Sparks said. Through trial-and-error, Sparks believes this idea will work. "You get about 200 gallons of fuel per acre. I mix the oil that is crushed out of the seeds with methanol and other substances and you get biodiesel out of it. You can run it in diesel trucks and tractors," he explained. "The first year I'm going to try it out in my farm equipment and some other people that I know are farmers and I'm going to market it to them."

Sparks contends this kind of biofuel is much cheaper than can be purchased at the commercial pumps. "The price I am toying with is $2 a gallon -- compared with what diesel is right now. I'm making money at $2 a gallon because it costs me about 40 cents a gallon to make it," he explained. "You make it (the sunflower oil) with methanol and it makes D-100 diesel. If you have a newer diesel it's against warranty to run D-100 in it. I know people that run D-100 and they do it in brand new trucks all the time." The young businessman says there is also a market for the sunflower stalks, which can be crushed and used as a high-protein livestock feed for cattle and swine. Sparks plans to do the actual crushing process at his parent's farm near Tulip. The crusher and processor will crush about six tons of seeds daily. He hopes to make this a complete Greene County project.

The seed is Pioneer Seed from the Worthington plant, where Sparks actually works at his full-time summer job as a field scout -- who walks the seed crop fields in a two-state area looking for bugs and weeds. "I get off work and come here and do the same thing," he said with a laugh. An admitted optimist who someday also would like to get involved in local politics, Sparks said, "I only plan to sell to Greene County customers. I only plan to buy seeds from Greene County. I plan on marketing to Greene County. I want to help the community and create jobs here in the community. I would really hope this would have several employees in the future. I would like to get farmers on board." “We're (in Indiana) just known as the Corn Belt ... I'm just hoping people will buy this and realize in Greene County there is more than corn and soybeans and you can make a profit off of it." Information and photos courtesy of the Nick Schneider, Greene County Daily World

TODD PAYNE / RL SERVICE Entrepreneur Todd Payne knows the value of a niche market. A long time resident of Greene County, Todd works full time Union Electrician with the I.B.E.W. 725 in Terre Haute and also runs a towing and transport business. When the Greene County Sherriff informed him that there was a need for another towing company in Eastern Greene County, he and his business partner Rodger League began to research how they could meet the need and in the process learned that no one in the area pulled for the roadside clubs such as AAA. The nearest places were in Bloomington and Elletsville, areas far enough away to mean long waits for stranded drivers; and there was no direct service delivery in the southern and western parts of the county.

Payne & League called motor clubs and asked what they required in the way of insurance, tools, and equipment and negotiated the purchase of a roll-back truck with a wheel lift that can transport two full sized automobiles. They called a service carrier and started the contract process for service delivery. They had no sooner hung up the phone when the carrier called with a run. “It made us feel good to get a call that quick and was a perfect example of our knowing what the need was in our area,” says Payne. RL Service performs contract work with several roadside assistance companies, helping with lock-outs, fuel deliveries and towing. They also tow anything that fits on their truck – sheds, equipment, tractors, plate steel and more. Payne credits the success of their business to the support they get from two other towing companies in the area, Bays Old Barn and Owensburg Auto Service.

“We have been able to depend on them for back-up in towing and we do the same for them. That means a lot to us because together we’re able to meet drivers’ needs as soon as possible for whatever company it may be. Cultivating relationships with other businesses is important.” He is hesitant to call his business a success just yet because he’s looking to the future.

“We’re in a honeymoon period right now. If we can remain viable until I-69 is built, then I think at that point we can call ourselves a success; and I think we will. We’ve had a lot of support and people are really glad to know about our services.” Todd Payne is heavily involved in the county community; he is a member of the Eastern Greene County Development Association and the Greene County Citizen’s Academy. He volunteers on projects spearheaded by the Greene County Economic Development Corporation and is working to help develop the Eastern Greene County Chamber of Commerce. “I try to be involved with anything that makes Greene County better. I love my community and the people in it. I just do whatever I can, whenever I can for the community.”

He points out that there’s a lot of room for niche business in Greene County. “Find a way to put the luxury of time back in a person’s life, or add to someone’s quality of life with your business and you’ll be just fine.” Still, he cautions, it’s important to get to know the community. “Think long and hard. Look around at the old buildings, get to know the business history of your area. If a building is closed, find out why it closed. As yourself: do the people you know need your product you’re thinking of providing? History is the best research you can do.” He says it’s also important to cultivate relationships in the community; those folks are your future customers and you want to be sure they will buy from you. “This is a great place to live; getting involved in the community can really help your business be a success.”

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