Fast-forward to today, and Rourke has been able to step away from the day-to-day challenges of running Ag-Quest to pursue other interests, including farming. He’s done this by utilizing one of his biggest assets of all — his daughter, Dana Maxwell. Now 35, Maxwell serves as presi- dent and chief executive officer of Ag-Quest, still based in Minto. In her role, she oversees a staff of 23 research associates. The company offers contract agricultural research services in the areas of variety, plant breeding and confined field trials; efficacy; environmental fate; and her- bicide resistance testing. Although she finds herself in charge of running the sizeable ship that is Ag-Quest, her role as leader has come after a lot of hard work and effort to effectively take the reins from her father and prove to herself that she could succeed him. She started work there in 2009 as director of plant genetic services after finishing a bachelor’s degree in retained some shares so there would be flexibility to bring others into the business if Maxwell wanted/needed partners), and theirs is a story of how well the succession planning process can work. “Succession planning has been talked about for a decade or more now. It’s gone from being a buzzword to a concrete concept that offers people an opportunity to understand what it really means and the steps involved,” says John Guthrie, business adviser at MNP in Brandon, Man. He worked with Rourke and Maxwell to craft their succession plan, helping them look at several differ- ent ownership structures, manage- ment models and payment structures before finally settling on their current model, recognizing that it may need to change in the future at some point. “There’s a lot of confusion out there as to what succession means, and that’s because there are so many components to it,” Guthrie adds. Having been through the process, Rourke and Maxwell are able to offer some solid advice for others looking to wade through the waters of suc- cession planning. Know What You Want It might seem like common sense, but having a clear goal is essential. Maxwell says that fairness across the family was a major consideration in how they structured things, and get- ting those basic questions dealt with was a major priority. “Valuation of the company was an incredible challenge. There are no comparison metrics, like there would be for selling a restaurant or a farm or an agri-retail outlet,” Maxwell says. “What is a fair multiple of EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depre- ciation and amortization) for a market value? If you approach it as the value of physical assets, what is the value of a mid-80s Wintersteiger combine? How do you value the goodwill of your client list? I would say that the agriculture (plant systems) from the University of Manitoba and a master’s in molecular biology at the University of Calgary. After a stint with Dow AgroSciences running field trials, she decided to come home to work in the family business. “Honestly, I didn’t know how far my vision went at the time, but here I am many years later and I’ve taken over one of my family’s businesses. The two degrees I do have are a huge asset, but I’m still hoping to do my business degree eventually. It’s a bit surreal when I really sit back and think about it,” she says. “My whole family has been hugely supportive, especially my mom — she’s always been very active in the research business, doing all the accounting for both Ag-Quest and the farm. She was the primary combine operator for a long time. You might say she’s always been one of the hardest workers around here.” Maxwell and Rourke are now co-owners of Ag-Quest (Rourke has 12 GERMINATION.CA NOVEMBER 2017 Dana Maxwell and David Rourke examine the Ag-Quest fields with Dana’s young daughter, Rachel. Dana hopes Ag-Quest will one day be taken over by a third generation of the family. Photo by Anna Latimer