Opportunity: St Olaf Consulting Group

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This student-led organization partners with organizations to provide data-driven insights while their analysts benefit from professional development and academic credit. The typical project length is eight weeks with each team committing over 300 hours. Projects begin with conversations between the client and an engagement manager to determine the scope, deliverables, and timeline of the project.

St. Olaf Consulting Group Prospectus

About

The St. Olaf Consulting Group is comprised of motivated undergraduate students who are interested in pursuing careers in management consulting. Our goal is to provide a tangible impact for our clients, while simultaneously enabling our analysts to gain real-world consulting experience. Each consulting team consists of 4-6 analysts and an engagement manager, with support from a faculty mentor (MBA) from St. Olaf’s Piper Center for Vocation and Career. Analysts are selected from the college’s brightest and most dedicated students through a competitive application and interview process to ensure our work is to the highest standards. Our analysts have a wide range of backgrounds and majors ranging from the social sciences to STEM. Analysts are also given training and development opportunities to ensure they possess the necessary technical skills for each specific project. Engagement managers are selected from the most successful analysts and possess significant outside business and leadership experience. Our alumni have gone on to careers at leading consulting firms including Deloitte, Boston Consulting Group, and McKinsey & Company.

Engagements

The St. Olaf Consulting Group provides our clients with data-driven insights while our analysts benefit from professional development and academic credit. The typical project length is eight weeks with each team committing over 300 hours. Projects begin with conversations between the client and an engagement manager to determine the scope, deliverables, and timeline of the project. Typical deliverables include excel models, competitive benchmarking, strategy planning, and a slide deck synthesizing overall recommendations to be presented to the client. During the project, the client meets at least twice with the team to introduce the project and receive final recommendations at its conclusion. Throughout the project, engagement managers serve as a liaison between the client and the team to gather available data and clarify project details.

Previous Engagements

• Developed a tailored product launch strategy for a low-vision stationary company, covering pricing, distribution, and marketing.
• Performed financial modeling and projected costs for a startup company in the aquaculture industry, positioning it to attract investors.
• Identified strategies to optimize staffing levels for a top technology company.
• Analyzed discounting the prices of consulting services for a major technology company and designed a hybrid discount and value-based pricing model.

Contact

If your business is interested in working with the St. Olaf Consulting Group, please contact the group’s presidents Noah Mock (mock1@stolaf.edu) and Ben Steil (steil1@stolaf.edu). 

St. Olaf Consulting Group Prospectus

Le Sueur-Henderson agriculture program cultivates student interest in debut

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New teacher Elizabeth Risacher is bringing the farm to the classroom at Le Sueur-Henderson Middle School/High School.

From a young age, Risacher developed a passion for agriculture. She spent her childhood on a black angus beef cattle farm near the small town of Wright, Minnesota — about 47 miles southwest of Duluth — where she cultivated an appreciation for animal science. As a freshman in high school, Risacher decided she wanted to share her love of farming as an agriculture teacher.

Today, Risacher is living her dream, kickstarting a new agriculture and Future Farmers of America program at Le Sueur-Henderson Middle School/High School. She began her teaching career this fall semester leading a number of new agriculture classes including: Intro to Agriculture; Floral Design; Animal Science; and Wildlife Management.

Not only is it Risacher’s first year teaching at LS-H, it’s her first year teaching as a full-time instructor, period. Prior to joining the LS-H faculty, Risacher interned in the agriculture education program at Sibley East, student taught at Forest Lake and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Communications Leadership from South Dakota State University in spring 2022.

Though it was somewhat nerve-wracking to balance building an agriculture education program in her first year teaching, Risacher was up for the challenge.

“It’s definitely a lot of work; it’s also a very rewarding position. I love the kids; the students are amazing; I wouldn’t trade this job for anything,” said Risacher.

In her classes, Risacher frequently incorporates hands-on lessons into student learning whether its blind taste-testing different varieties of milk (dairy, almond, soy, coconut etc.) for the dairy foods unit or getting a new batch of fresh flowers each week for students to create floral arrangements in the floral design class.

These lessons are designed to get students engaged with agriculture beyond what’s in the textbook as well as broaden student perspectives of what falls within the agriculture industry.

“I try to incorporate this is the type of the job you can do with this type of animal in Animal Science, or this is the type of job you can do in this sector,” said Risacher. “They’re always very surprised to hear that a certain career is within the realm of agriculture, because there are many careers within the realm of agriculture that you might not even realize or they don’t even realize.”

This approach has proven popular with the students. The number of kids enrolling in Risacher’s spring semester courses has grown from the amount in her fall classes.

“I used to show cattle and I’m in 4-H so it’s nice to have another way to go into Ag,” said junior Anna Berger, who taking Floral Design and is involved in the FFA. Berger is interested in pursuing a career as a livestock veterinarian and appreciated having access to animal science courses before college.

Two new classes, Landscape Design (replacing Floral Design) and Aviation have been added to the spring semester. Aviation is currently one of the most popular ag classes yet. The course will be taught by both Risacher and Superintendent Jim Wagner and gives students the knowledge they need to take the test for a pilot’s license.

Not only are Le Sueur-Henderson’s agriculture classes growing, so is its recently relaunched Future Farmers of America (FFA) program. Through FFA, students can apply the knowledge they’ve learned in their agriculture courses in monthly Career and Leadership Development Events — competitions which test students on a wide range of topics from agronomy to livestock evaluation, food science and technology, floriculture, forestry and more.

Le Sueur-Henderson’s FFA chapter was off to a slow start in September with just five students attending the CLD event. But by November, there were so many students interested in participating, Risacher said she had to turn some away because there were no more open spots. Today, Risacher estimated there around 30 active FFA members attending competitions.

“The kids seem to really like to go and apply what they’ve been learning in the classroom to contests like that. I think It’s been a very rewarding experience for them,” said Risacher.

LS-H FFA already has a few success stories under their belt. Last month, Le Sueur-Henderson’s Farm Business Management team became the district’s first state qualifiers, ranking second overall. Individually, two LS-H students ranked in the top 10. Hattie Tuck earned third place and Willy Sampson was awarded seventh.

“I didn’t go into it expecting that much. I was hoping our team would go to state because that’s cool, but I was not expecting third,” said Tuck.

The LS-H student said she never would have imagined herself being involved in FFA until this year.

“I joined Ag class and it was one of those things where if you’re in an Ag class you go to FFA,” said Tuck. “I am in Wildlife Management and everyone in Wildlife Management was going to this event.”

Like Tuck, Sampson said he didn’t go into the FFA competition with high expectations and was surprised by the results. Sampson was inspired to join since his own father, a local dairy farmer, was involved in FFA when he was in school.

The new slate of Ag classes has also given Sampson a few electives he can feel enthusiastic about.

“It’s really awesome because I didn’t have any elective classes that I wanted to take this year,” said Sampson. “But now that we have Ag classes I was able to take some elective classes that I’m interested and can learn more about agriculture.”

Sampson added that he likes working with the cows on his family farm, so he enjoys learning more about animals and livestock in classes like Animal Science and Wildlife Management. He’s even taken away lessons he can apply on the farm.

“We learned about what spooks cows and how to move them around more efficiently and I’ve definitely been able to use that a little more on the farm,” said Sampson.

In the coming months, Risacher is hopeful the school can produce more state qualifying teams.

“Every month we’re growing,” said Risacher. “It’s really cool to see it grow and kids get more interested as the years go on.”

LS-H agriculture program cultivates student interest in debut

Looking for a Great Work Culture? Join Our Team!

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We are a small but mighty team who like to work hard, play hard. We are passionate about growing the GreenSeam whether that is within traditional farming, banking, or creating new programs and services. There is flexibility in the day to day work so we need someone who will bring their passion and flare to the team!

Internship Opportunities

GreenSeam is seeking to hire a marketing intern to provide support to the GreenSeam marketing team. Responsibilities could include communications, creative design, event planning, and more to support the organization. This position is a great fit for a marketing enthusiast who loves digital advertising, social media and learning more about the various aspects of marketing.

Please send resume, areas of interest, and any work to info@greenseam.org

Economic Development Coordinator

Do you have a passion for economic development? Are you interested in working to help Southern Minnesota and Northern Iowa capitalize on its agriculture, food, and natural resource assets to promote economic prosperity? GreenSeam is looking for two Economic Development Coordinators to guide and implement the work of the Economic Development Organization serving over half a million people. Learn More.

Please send cover letter, resume, and references to info@greenseam.org

GreenSeam Testimonies at the Capitol

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Wednesday, President and Director of GreenSeam, Sam Ziegler was at the State Capitol testifying on behalf of GreenSeam. He was joined by Senator Frentz, Troy Schmidke founder of Earth Scout, Ethan Dado, the first ag teach at Mankato Area Public Schools, and FFA Chapter President and student Brynn Bohlke. This team turned heads with their powerful testimonies. Thank you legislators for your continued financial support, staff, and everyone involved!

Hear the Testimonies

FFA Foundation Launches Support Minnesota Agriculture Initiative

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Since 1953, the Minnesota FFA Foundation has been providing opportunities for the growth and success of Minnesota’s youth. With that same goal in mind, today is the official release of its latest initiative to raise funds for the organization and the programs it supports. Support Minnesota Agriculture, in partnership with an innovative, small business, launches today as we celebrate National Ag Day.

Support Minnesota Agriculture