When it comes to agriculture — and especially the seed industry — Catherine Frans never saw it as part of the “grand plan.” Growing up, her father was an engineer, and her mother was a big name in the Zumba fitness industry — Frans says the goal was always to be a veterinarian. She describes it as fate that she got into agriculture, after she applied for a job and landed the position as marketing lead for the Independent Professional Seed Association (IPSA).
“I’m so incredibly fulfilled working for an association that truly advocates and benefits not only our members, but ‘Small Town America,'” Frans, now executive director of IPSA, says.
As executive director, Frans says she gets to focus on a much broader role — particularly the larger picture of the association. Her main priority is looking how to bring more benefits to IPSA members, so that way, IPSA can be the best resource for members.
“There’s so many ways we can help our seed companies in everyday business — from health insurance options to employee retention to advocating for our companies,” Frans says. “My personal favorite is our annual conference — it’s so incredibly impactful for me.”
And the future of the industry looks bright in her eye, but with a few bumps in the road.
“I see so much potential in agriculture, with the leaps in new technologies like gene-editing and genetics — we have incredible potential to solve big problems like hunger and climate change,” she says. “But I am concerned about the seed industry, especially out independent corn and soybean companies. They are the backbone of America — where would we be without them?”
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