Santa Rosa, Calif.-based American AgCredit has announced plans to locate its Kansas and Oklahoma regional office in Great Bend. The ag lender has purchased commercial property at 10th and Patton. 
The new Great Bend facility will be approximately 6,300 square feet, and will include offices and conference rooms to support the company’s lending, crop insurance and appraisal businesses in Central Kansas. In addition, the facility will include an 800 square foot conference room.
The company is on target to break ground early to mid March, with a completion time frame of late fall, said Jennifer Bracken, regional marketing manager. Total initial employment is anticipated at 10, with the facility housing lending, appraisal and crop insurance staff.
American AgCredit has seven employees in the current Larned office of which will reside in the new Great Bend office upon completion. “We will develop a plan for a contact point to remain in Larned for a period of time after the move to Great Bend is complete,” Bracken said.
The company has eight branches in this region, seven of which are in Kansas with one in Ponca City, Okla. There are currently a total of 85 employees the area.
Other locations include Concordia, Hutchinson, Kingman, Pratt, Salina and Wichita.
“We are extremely excited to announce our intentions to build a new facility in Great Bend in order to better serve our customers in Central Kansas,” said Roger Bastow, chief administrative officer. “This location provides easy access for our customers, and is located in close proximity to several other complementary businesses.”
American AgCredit plans to utilize the services of Simpson Construction and SPT Architecture, both of Wichita. “We have successfully utilized the talents of these two firms not only for the construction of our new facility in Salina, but also the remodeling of virtually all of the company’s offices located throughout Kansas and Oklahoma,” said Bastow.
“We don’t build buildings very often, and when we do, we need to focus on the needs of our customers not only today, but 20-30 years in the future,” said Greg Reno, regional vice president. “Land ownership groups and family farming operations are continuing to grow in size, as the farms pass down from generation to generation. We need to have offices that can accommodate these groups for face-to-face meetings, as well as add the capability of video conferencing for members who may not live in the immediate area. This facility will allow us to accomplish that in a single location.”
Founded in 1916, American AgCredit is part of the nationwide Farm Credit System, and is the nation’s sixth largest Farm Credit cooperative. American AgCredit specializes in providing financial services to agricultural and rural customers throughout Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, California, Nevada, and New Mexico – as well as to capital markets customers in 30 states.
Financial services provided by American AgCredit include production and mortgage financing, equipment and vehicle leasing, crop and life insurance, lines of credit, and the Young, Beginning and Small farmer program. In addition, the Association provides interest-free loans for qualifying 4-H and FFA AgYouth programs, as well as college scholarships to young people interested in agriculture.
For more information about American AgCredit’s financial services, call 800-466-1146 or visit the website at www.agloan.com for a listing of offices by region.