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IF you'd want a history of any of the 

 14 lAA associated companies right 

 down to just about the day they were 

 started, you could probably get the in- 

 side facts from A. R. Wright. He prob- 

 ably was sitting in when the company 

 was organized. 



Substantial farmer and successful small 

 town banker, Wright has been closely 

 associated with the lAA since 1924 

 when he was first elected to the board 

 of directors. 



Thirteen years ago Wright, then vice- 

 president of the lAA, was asked if he 

 wouldn't spend his full energies as the, 

 assistant treasurer in charge of invest- 

 ments. He accepted. 



And now, after helping to weather a 

 depression and a war, he would like to 

 get home to Varna, and so, reluctantly, 

 the lAA board of directors has accepted 

 his resignation. 



Through Depression and War 



Starting from scratch, investments 

 have increased over the last 20 years 

 until the lAA and its associated com- 

 panies last year had invested as much as 



$45 million. Since 1935 it has been "* 5 /> i ^ * 



Wright's particular job to see that this J^^ lASUVUk ^SihVlCil 

 money has been invested soundly and <^.. - - - . 



wisely. ' 



Adequate finance and a real need are 

 considered by Wright as being two of 

 the major keystones upon which their 

 success rests. He related early experi- 

 ences to bear out his beliefs, which, al- 

 though they have been widely told, bear 

 retelling. 



lAA Assistant Treasurer A. R. Wright 



(standing) brealcs in his successor, Lyie 



Eilcelbarner. 



CHIEF INVESTOR 



goh 9cia 



RETIRES AFTER 



By LEW REISNER 



lAA RECORD Fieid Editor 



"We early found a need by farmers' 

 elevators for adequate auditing. Audits 

 were made for the managers of the ele- 

 vators and not the farmer board of di- 

 rectors. So we set up our first company, 

 the Illinois Agricultural Auditing Associ- 

 ation. This was in 1924." 



Never Heard of Co-ops 



But Wright's experience goes back 

 a good deal further than this. In 1893, 

 as a boy, he went with his father to 

 meetings held for the purpose of or- 

 ganizing a farmers elevator. "All they 

 knew in those days was the "endgate di- 

 vidend' — cutting margins and prices. 

 They'd never heard of cooperatives, not 

 as they're known now. Our elevator 

 would cut prices, so did our competition. 

 We both starved." 



This hard-earned knowledge — the 

 necessity for adequate finance — came in 

 good stead, when Wright helped to or- 

 ganize in 1927 the statewide oil purchas- 

 ing company, now known as the Illinois 

 Farm Supply Company. 



"As Farm Bureau folks pretty well 



know, we couldn't compete at the be- 

 ginning with big oil companies by slash- 

 ing prices. We didn't try to irritate 

 them, but kept their profit margin and 

 returned the balance as dividends." 



Wright had had other practical experi- 

 ence in oil co-ops before coming on the 

 lAA board. Back home in Marshall- 

 Putnam county in 1924 he had helped 

 to organize the first Farm Bureau oil co- 

 operative in Illinois. He served on its 

 board of directors until about six years 

 ago. ; 



He said they -really got into the oil 

 business because of the poor quality of 

 oil sold to farmers by fly-by-night sales- 

 men. "They'd sell anything for lubri- 

 cants, even fish oil, and of course, they 

 never came back. 



"We found a real need for insurance, 

 too. When farmers began to buy cars 

 and trucks, and got roads they could drive 

 over with a car, they began to realize, 

 when they bought insurance, they were 

 paying plenty for it. 



"Many farmers really thought they 

 should be getting cheaper insurance rates. 

 They didn't drive fast or in heavy 

 traffic, at least not like city drivers. We 

 studied into the matter and found it 

 was true — they were preferred risks." 



He said that most of the information 

 they needed in a technical way for start- 

 ing the insurance companies they got 

 from the state insurance department at 

 Springfield and our own legal depart- 

 ment. 



Actually, he said, except for a lot of 

 hard work, the companies have been 

 comparatively easy to set up, and they 

 haven't encountered very serious troubles 

 along the way. "But the board has been 

 pretty sure their members wanted and 

 needed the services before the companies 

 have been formed." 



20- Year-Old Boss 



Born on the family homestead in the 

 same house as his father, Wright at- 

 tended country schools, the Varna high 

 school, and later went to Bradley Tech- 

 nical College in Peoria, where oddly 

 enough consideri. g his later career in 

 finance and farming, he majored in chem- 

 istry. 



Returning to the farm, Wright had 

 thrust on him the full management 

 of a 320 acre farm when he was 20 

 years old. "It took 24 horses to farm 

 the land, and I usually had at least 

 two hired men who were pretty critical 

 of such a young boss," Wright con- 

 fessed. 



But he soon proved his ability. In 

 eight years he was farming 700 acres. 

 He continued to operate the farm but 

 later worked as cashier in the Varna 

 bank until 1921. At this time he took 

 in a partner on the farm and bought 

 controlling interest in the bank. 



He is married to the former Louise 

 Merritt from Varna, and has one son, 

 Harold, of Harrisonburg, Va., and a 

 grandson, Randy, 2. 



Headed County Farm Bureau 



He served as a member, and later 

 as secretary and president, on the board 

 of directors of the Marshall-Putnam 

 County Farm Bureau from 1919 until 

 1924. In 1924 he was elected to the 

 lAA board to represent the l6th con- 

 gressional district. From 1930-35 he 

 was elected as vice-president of the 

 lAA. 



The 320-acre homestead where he 

 first started farming is now leased but 

 on another holding, a 370-acre farm, 

 Wright maintains an active interest in 

 the management. 



When he gets back to Varna, Wright 

 has one hobby he'd like to work on. 

 He wants to make this 370-acre farm 

 a model of soil conservation. 



Whatever their course in the fu- 

 ture, farmers' co-ops in Illinois today 

 owe a debt of gratitude to A. R. 

 Wright for the strong foundation he 

 has helped to build. , • . 



APRIL. 1947 



