One little seed, one big impact By: Richelle Ballenger
Experience, dedication and an entrepreneurial mindset are tools for building a career. Studio One alumni Jared Stober added another ingredient to the mix – flax seed. Stober is no stranger to developing plans and putting ideas in action. As a Studio One marketing team member, he helped create a marketing plan and execute ideas in order build awareness for the program. “I used that experience from Studio One to help grow the [my family’s] business,” explained Stober. Currently he works as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Flax USA. His duties include, “securing new markets, [with] new product development, managing [the] sales team and developing short and long term strategies. “ He says the fun and professional setting of Studio One provided a real world experience that has helped him grow his family’s business.
With hopes of moving somewhere warm after graduation, Stober was not expecting to become intricately involved with this home-grown company. “I never would have thought I would still be in the flax business, but here I am.” He quickly helped the company expand after his college graduation, but the seeds of growth were planted in Stober’s mind while at UND. He used Flax USA as a business model for an internship through the entrepreneurship program at the Center for Innovation. “[I] developed a business plan [for Flax USA and] recognized the opportunity to take the business to the next level.” This included entering mass retail markets. “Within the first year [of working at Flax USA] we entered Sam’s Club and Costco nationwide. Since then, we have continued to enter additional markets and develop new products.”
The Stober farm started more than 100 years ago but became a business in 2001. They introduced the world to Golden Omega Flax, a 100 percent natural hybrid flax seed. Golden Omega Flax is produced for markets nationwide. This small seed has captured the attention of some famous faces like Andrea Martin (My Big Fat Greek Wedding, SCTV), Rich Sommer (Mad Men, The Office) and the U.S. silver medal winning water polo team.
Flax seed is available in many forms and can be found in flaxmilk, seed, sprinkles or oil but it also has turned up in unexpected dishes. Some people add flax seed to meatloaf, cookies and cocktails. “The trick is to find what works for you,” says Stober. “Some people use flax in oatmeal, cereal, salads, baking, juice, yogurt or any [other] favorite food.” Now the country is getting a chance to check out this North Dakota product. “We just launched the world’s first ever Flaxmilk in Wal-Mart Inc stores nationwide a few months ago.”
For Stober, the benefits of flax seed go beyond health. “My favorite part is being able to build a business from scratch and watch it grow over the years. It will be interesting to see what will happen next. When I first started selling flax, no one knew what the benefits were. But now almost everyone has heard of Omega-3. It’s great knowing that we are providing nutrition to our customers and helping people get the health benefits of Omega-3.” The small seed that helped start the Stober’s family business, has helped their company grow beyond North Dakota boundaries and into a nation-wide product.