At FFA, we believe that what we grow changes how the world grows.
The Forever Blue Network is about reconnecting with those who made a difference in your life, reaching out to those you can impact now and finding a new world of opportunities. As a result, our series Five Questions explores the lives of Forever Blue Network members.
This month’s Five Questions features Steve Peirce. Steve is president and co-founder of RIBUS Inc. RIBUS supplies natural and organic rice ingredients to food, beverage, dietary supplement and pet companies around the world. The foundation of the business is to provide clean label alternatives that can help solve production issues and bring innovation to products.
Q1: What are some of the biggest professional challenges you have faced, and how did/does your FFA background help navigate those?
Steve: Leading an organization and blazing a new trail. As a former manager within a major corporation and now as a co-founder of a smaller company, leadership is critical. Starting a company from scratch requires vision, confidence and reliance on resources. These are the things I observed in FFA. At state and national conventions, seeing people my age leading the convention, their ag projects, their business and younger students.
Q2: What made you decide your career path?
Steve: By observing people I knew in agriculture, I developed a deep respect for their honesty, accomplishments and the way they conducted themselves. As I prepared for college and employment, I knew I wanted to be in agriculture. FFA was a vehicle to prepare me for where I wanted to go.
Q3: As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Steve: A “professional.” At first, I thought it would be a professional football player; that did not happen. As I saw what opportunities were available in agriculture, I never looked back. I was determined to become a professional in “agribusiness.” I have been blessed and have had the opportunity to see much of the world representing U.S. agriculture in the food and dietary supplement industry.
Q4: What is your favorite FFA memory?
Steve: Going to my first area leadership camp as a state FFA officer. I forgot to bring my own bedsheets. The state sentinel was quick to let me know that I was not staying at the Holiday Inn. He and I still laugh about it today.
Q5: Why do you support FFA?
Steve: It is an opportunity to “give back” to an organization that gave me so much.
If you would like to be considered for an upcoming Five Questions, email Joanne Sergi, jsergi@ffa.org, with your request.
