Decades of dedication: Hiatt inducted into ISPFMRA Hall of Fame

PONTIAC, Ill. — A 45-year member was recently named to the Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers Hall of Fame.

Rick Hiatt, of Hiatt Enterprises LLC, Pontiac, received the honor at ISPFMRA’s annual meeting in recognition of his long service to the organization that includes various officer and committee capacities.

He currently coordinates the organization’s investment funds, is a member of the chapter’s memorial scholarship program and serves as District 3 vice president for the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers.

He has held numerous offices with the Illinois chapter, including president. He’s also a liaison with the Community Bankers Association of Illinois.

Hiatt holds both Accredited Farm Manager and Accredited Rural Appraiser designations from ASFMRA.

Farming has been part of Hiatt’s life since day one, and the new hall of famer reflected on his early life and his career path in an interview with Illinois AgriNews.

Early Life

He was born and raised on a farm near Streator, and the family moved to Watseka during his school years when his father got a position with the Iroquois County Farm Bureau. Hiatt was very active in the Watseka FFA and the 4-H programs in the county and credited those experiences into molding his career path.

After high school, he attended Southern Illinois University at Carbondale where he earned an agriculture education degree, followed by four years of service in the U.S. Navy. Upon his honorable discharge, Hiatt enrolled in graduate school at SIU to study ag economics.

Career Path Turn

Hiatt was hired after college as a farm manager at Pontiac National Bank and was asked how his career path veered from studying ag education at SIU to banking.

“Actually all I ever wanted to do was farm. I had an opportunity to farm, but when I got out of the service that opportunity was gone. The reason why I studied ag education is with my desire to farm I said if I ever got hurt or got disabled in some way I should still be able to be in a wheelchair and teach. The other part of it was the FFA that got me into ag education and it gave a very diverse background,” he said.

“When I got out of the service I decided I needed to concentrate a little bit on the economic side. Teaching was OK, but it wasn’t going to go too far too fast. That’s why I went into the business side of it in farm management.

“I think they have a word for farm management people. They’re called ‘frustrated farmers’ — people who couldn’t get a hold of a piece of land themselves and didn’t have the money to buy all of the machinery. So, they got into a position where they could still do it all, but they didn’t own it.”

Membership

His first experience with the state and national farm manager and rural appraiser groups began soon after he was hired at the bank after college.

“The gentleman who hired me was an advocate of the Illinois Society and the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers. We started attending meetings, etcetera, and I ended up pursuing my accredited farm management designation with the ASFMRA. A few years later on I got my accredited rural appraiser designation,” Hiatt said.

After eight years as a farm manager, he moved into the bank’s trust department, a post he held for 12 years before serving four years as bank president.

“I then went out on my own in 1997 and I opened Hiatt Enterprises LLC in farm management, investments, appraisals and land acquisitions. I’m still working for myself today and it’s been great. I spend about 60% of may time in farm management consulting work and about 40% is spent in the securities industry as a financial adviser. I also do some income tax work,” Hiatt noted.

Always Active

Being an active member in organizations are important to Hiatt.

While at SIU he joined the Alpha Gamma Rho and he continues those ties as the fraternity’s alumni executive secretary, a post he’s held for about 38 years.

When his career led him back to farm management and he formed his company, Hiatt became more active in the state and national societies.

“I was very active on the scholarship committee. Then someone asked if I’d run for office. I did and I went up through the officer chain,” he said.

Delivering Ideas

At the ISPFMRA level, Hiatt spearheaded changes in the group’s scholarship programs.

“About four years ago I said we needed to do more for the scholarships. I talked to the board about starting an investment account, so instead of having money sitting around in a money market account, let’s put it into an investment account. So, we did that with Vanguard and that account is producing income and support for the scholarship program,” he said.

The new scholarship program initiated by Hiatt is supported by interest from the account and is for students transferring from an accredited community college in Illinois to Illinois State University, SIU, University of Illinois, Western Illinois University or Illinois College.

The chapter’s other scholarship program that has been in place for many years is funded through the ISPFMRA’s annual scholarship auction.

At the national level where his duties have included serving on the scholarship auction committee and membership task force, Hiatt borrowed an idea from the Community Bankers Association of Illinois, an organization he was very active in while at the bank.

The ASFMRA Patron Program recognizes state chapters’ membership efforts, similar to a CBAI program.

“The program has about 10 criteria to it. You aren’t in competition with any other chapter or any other part of the American society. You’re pretty much just in competition with yourself in that you have to achieve everything in 10 of the criteria and then be named a Patron Chapter of the American society,” Hiatt explained.

There were three Patron Chapters the first year and that doubled the second year.

Professional Society

The ISPFMRA has “professional” in its title for a reason, and is emphasized through its members’ action.

“Illinois is one of the largest absentee landowner states. People have passed the land down to generation after generation and when the pie gets smaller and smaller those people are doing other things and have other priorities in their life, but they still have a very valuable resource out here that needs to be taken care of,” Hiatt said.

“My excitement is stepping into their shoes to represent them and get a very good return, as well as preserving the farmland. That’s where I see the professionalism of the Illinois society.

“Farming is not simple today. It requires professionalism and expertise and the integrity of the individual I think is really critical. That’s what the organization brings. We have our mandatory classes, and we have continuing education that we have to do all the time, and we have our accredited designations which sets us apart.”

Pleasant Surprise

Hiatt had no idea of his impending hall of fame induction until it was announced at the ISPFMRA annual meeting.

“It was a total shock. It’s the highest award that there is in the Illinois Society and I am very grateful to be named among some of the best in the field. It is just a very, very humbling position and it’s a great honor. I think about it just about every day,” Hiatt said.

It was no shock to those who have known of Hiatt’s dedication and commitment to the organization and its ideals for the past 45 years.