The Everywhere Economy By Laura Billings Coleman Illustration by Chris McAllister Photography by John Linn
The growth of e-commerce connects Central Minnesota with revenue from around the world. When Tom Smude registered the internet domain name for the start-up sunflower oil operation he and his wife launched in 2010, the Pierz farmer knew far more about tractor engine tuning than search engine optimization. “Computers weren’t really my thing,” said Smude, a life-long family farmer, cattle rancher and John Deere dealer. “Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest—I didn’t know much about any of that.” But with the first batch of his family’s bottled cold-pressed sunflower oil about to go to market, Smude knew they needed an online calling card where potential customers could learn more and see that the company was legitimate. “These days, if you don’t have a website, you’re kind of nobody,” said Smude, who set up a simple site and taught himself how to create pages and product descriptions “every night at 10 o’clock, after the chores were done.” The strategy soon paid off. Smude’s Sunflower Oil (smudeoil.com) soon found its way onto grocery shelves and into high-end restaurant kitchens in St. Cloud and the Twin Cities, more than doubling sales within the company’s first two years. As preparation for this success, Smude’s received an Initiative Foundation loan along with technical assistance to apply for a United States Department of Agriculture ValueAdded Producer Grant. 1ST QUARTER 2014
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