By STAN MADDUX

Indiana Correspondent

CHICAGO, Ill. — Agriculture has new voices on a panel that can have an impact on the pocketbooks of farmers.

The Advisory Council on Agriculture, Small Business and Labor to the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago provides input on the current business climate in those sectors of the economy from parts of the Midwest. Seventeen of the 18 seats were recently filled with new members each serving two-year terms, according to bank officials.

The council has representatives from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa, within the Seventh Federal Reserve District.

New to the council from agriculture are Anne Alonzo, president and CEO of the American Egg Board in Chicago and previously an administrator with USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service; David Hardin, owner of Hardin Farms in Danville, Ind.; Sara Lloyd, special projects coordinator with the Wisconsin Farmers Union in Madison; and Robert Wills, president of Cedar Grove Cheese and Clock Shadow Creamery in Plain, Wis.

The advisory council meets twice a year with Chicago Fed President Charles Evans and other senior officials with the bank.

Chris Hurt, an agricultural economist at Purdue University, said economic input from the council is among the data collected by the Fed in Washington, D.C., in deciding interest rates and other financial matters such as cash supply. He said farmers having difficulty obtaining credit, for example, could play a factor in lowering interest rates and increasing money supply for improving access to capital.

Input from other business sectors with a seat on the advisory council in Chicago and the advisory groups at 11 other Fed branches nationwide are also given weight in the decision-making.

“The Federal Reserve System is interested in trying to maintain full employment, so they’re very interested in growth of job opportunities and keeping inflation at a reasonable level,” Hurt explained.

He said the voice from the advisory council in Chicago probably isn’t as loud as those from less-populated states like North Dakota and Montana, where agriculture represents a larger chunk of their respective economies. Nevertheless, he said advisors to the Chicago Fed are from major food-producing states like Iowa and Michigan.

“If there are especially crises that are developing or hardships that are being formed, it’s good to be able to voice those opinions,” said Hurt.

Other members of the Chicago advisory council are:

Elba Aranda-Suh, executive director of the National Latino Education Institute in Chicago; Kurt Bauer, president and CEO of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce in Madison; Michelle Behrenwald, vice chair and co-owner of AIS Construction Equipment Corp. in Grand Rapids, Mich.; Moira Carlstedt, president and CEO of Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership;

Victor Dickson, president and CEO with Safer Foundation in Chicago; Michael Farrell, vice president of Victory Personnel Services, Inc. in Milwaukee; Les Garner, president of Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation in Iowa; Mary Anne Jones, senior vice president with Priority Health in Grand Rapids; Nancy Van Milligen, president and CEO of Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque in Iowa:

Robert Reiter Jr., secretary-treasurer of the Chicago Federation of Labor; John Sampson, president and CEO of Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership; Ned Staebler, vice president of economic development with Wayne State University in Detroit; William Towns, CEO of Benefit Chicago; and Rob Whitney, executive vice president of MacLean-Fogg Co. in Mundelein, Ill.

According to the Fed, there’s also a Federal Reserve Advisory Council made up of one member of the banking community from each of the 12 Federal Reserve districts.

The Federal Reserve Advisory Council, providing input on all matters within the Federal Reserve’s jurisdiction, meets in Washington, D.C., no fewer than four times a year, the minimum number of meetings required under the Federal Reserve Act, according to Fed officials.