Smude Enterprises Receives Value Added Grant Award from USDA

    LITTLE FALLS, MN, February 12, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Drought, hard work, and economic development financing from Community Development of Morrison County, are all factors in the recent success of Smude Enterprises in Pierz, MN. With the recent award of $298,000 from the USDA, Smude Enterprises is poised to accelerate growth and sales of it natural sunflower oil.

Tom Smude, founder of Smude Enterprises, has been farming since he was 12 years old and in 1998 he bought his own farm and began raising cows/calf pairs. His passion for farming is mixed with an entrepreneurial spirit in the bio-fuel industry. And this unique motivation sparked Tom's interest in making bio-fuel from soybeans. However, the bio-fuel from soybeans would not be compatible with modern equipment so he tried sunflowers, known for their tolerance to drought.

In 2009, he started his cold-press sunflower operation and by 2010 he was producing, bottling and selling Smude Virgin Cold Press Sunflower Oil. This natural oil offers a flavorful, healthy alternative to cooking oil and is on the shelves in 60 retail locations and available online

All of the effort has also paid off and been recognized by the Department of Agriculture. On February 3, 2012, Smude Enterprises was a recipient of the Value-Added Producer Grant Award.

With the help of Community Development of Morrison County, Smude Enterprises has been able to buy machinery to move the Sunflower idea to reality. They are currently exploring a facility in the Pierz Industrial Park to meet their growing needs and are looking forward to working with Carol Anderson and Community Development once again.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT OF MORRISON COUNTY can be found on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/#!/cdc.morrison.mn.us). Community Development of Morrison County provides assistance in many areas important to business expansion or new location such as attractive financing, identification of potential employees, employee training, local government support, identification of real estate and necessary support services for your company.

MORRISON COUNTY, MN is located approximately 100 miles northwest of Minneapolis/St. Paul, in central Minnesota at the junctions of Highways 10, 27, and 371.

SMUDE ENTERPRISES -- Since 2009 Smude Enterprises has been producing its healthy sunflower oil. This cooking oil alternative has led to additional growth and recognition for Smude Enterprises. Honored in 2011 by the Minnesota Jaycees, Tom Smude has been recognized as and "Outstanding Young Farmer" and he prides himself on producing a totally green product. Visit http://www.smudeoil.com to learn more about Tom and his enterprising company.

Heidi Thielen
Golden Shovel Agency
+1-888-266-4778
[email protected]

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