Agricultural Institute Student, Dane Lewis, Attends SEALS Program

Agricultural Institute student, Dane Lewis, recently attended the Clemson University’s Southeast Agricultural Lenders School (SEALS) during the end of May. At SEALS, they focus on assuring their students acquire the knowledge and skill set to “thrive a quickly shifting, volatile market.” During this week-long program, Dane focused on a variety of agribusiness topics including risk management; the lenders’ role in transition and succession planning; and economics and trends in agriculture. He was also able to learn about what problems Ag lenders are facing from some of the top professors in the agricultural field from the University of Kentucky, Virginia Tech University, University of Illinois, and Clemson University. In addition to gaining agribusiness knowledge, SEALS allowed Dane to network with lender professionals in the agricultural community and see what a career as an agricultural lender entitles through this program.

Dane first learned about this opportunity during an ARE Department field trip where he met Scott Mickey, who works in Clemson University’s Agricultural Department and runs the Lenders School. He feels very fortunate to have been a part of this program. “This school was a valuable educational experience for me and will be an important asset for my future career. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to attend the school and grateful for the Agricultural and Resource Economics Department being dedicated to helping students further their education.” The ARE Department is glad that we were able to partner with Scott at Clemson University and the Agricultural Institute to make this opportunity available to Dane.  Dane will graduate from the Agricultural Institute in December 2017 with degrees in Agribusiness Management and Horticulture Sciences Management and a 4.0 GPA.  He plans to enter our 4-year program in Agricultural Business Management in January 2018. We are very proud of his educational achievements!