By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

BARTONVILLE, Ill. — One of the oldest supporters of National FFA, Keystone Steel and Wire-Red Brand, are continuing to find new ways to help fund community FFA chapters and support the National FFA Foundation.

Now in its 64th year of sponsoring the youth organization, Red Brand – a national leader in agricultural fencing manufacturing located near Peoria, Ill. – recently introduced its “Homegrown” program that directs funds to local FFA chapters every time a roll of its fencing is sold by a local distributor.

“(Homegrown) is brand new for us and it is turning out to be a very interesting program,” said Doug Wright, vice president of sales and marketing for Keystone’s Wire Products Division.

Wright said when the promotion ended Sept. 30, the company expected to have generated some $200,000 in revenue for local FFA chapters during the program’s first year.

“It is fulfilling its promise and will be around (as) an annual program for the foreseeable future,” he added.

Wright described some of the history Red Brand has had with FFA as one of the top five sponsors of the organization for the past 64 years, including the enjoyment top executives of Keystone-Red Brand take from their yearly attendance at the National FFA Convention.

“We sponsor National Proficiency Awards and serve in roles such as equine judging, and we show every year at the Convention Career Fair,” said Wright. “FFA holds a special place in our heart, and a lot of our employees from the executive level to people working on the manufacturing floor came up through the program.

“Many of them still have kids in FFA; it’s interwoven into the history of the company.”

The Red Brand label on agricultural fencing products has been known to farmers for some 80 years. Keystone was founded in 1888, and its Red Brand imprint has grown to be the largest manufacturer of farm fencing in the industry.

The company’s success has allowed it to find new ways to continue to support FFA programs through initiatives like Homegrown – even when the economy is not favorable to the agricultural community.
“Knowing the economic conditions these days, we thought we might be in a fairly unique position to leverage our footprint in the rural economy to generate funds for both the National FFA and local FFA chapters,” Wright explained.

“The basis of the program is that Red Brand donates $1 every time retailers who are involved in the program and carry our traditional products, such as horse fence, cattle fence and barbed wire, sell a roll of fence. The retailer designates which FFA chapter or chapters the money will go to at the end of the program.”

Approximately 500 official Red Brand distributors enrolled in Homegrown’s inaugural campaign, designating 700 local FFA chapters as recipients of the $200,000 generated by the program in 2010.

National FFA officials are proud of their relationship with Red Brand and recognize its long-term support for the organization.
“We truly value Red Brand’s sponsorship and opportunities to FFA members nationwide,” said Lori Randle, National FFA Foundation corporate giving supervisor.