Employee-owners at your service!

On March 15, 2000 seven employees of Mercantile Bank's "FFGAgrivest" purchased the company's farm management and real estate sales division. The new owners emerged as an employee-owned business under the corporate name "Agrivest, Inc." Since the formation of Agrivest, Inc. these seven shareholders have been hard at work shaping the second century of service provided by the company and its predecessors. 

The best thing about the "new" Agrivest is that it looks a lot like the old Agrivest. With over 100 years of history in the farm management business, Agrivest's roots run deep in Illinois agriculture. Beginning in the early 1900's as a part of Trust Services in the First National Bank of Springfield, First Trust Bank in Taylorville and Elliott State Bank of Jacksonville, the "new" Agrivest is embarking on a path that promises its clients stability and continuity in this age of bank mega-mergers.

The clients of Agrivest have come to personally rely on the seasoned professionals that have been in their roles for nearly two decades or more. Therefore, it was a natural progression to place the company in the hands of the very people who know it best. Most importantly, the new structure has provided Agrivest the freedom to more efficiently adapt to new opportunities that production agriculture and professional farm management may present.

Did the company transition mean changes for Agrivest clients? Quite the contrary! The progression from FFG Agrivest to Agrivest, Inc. was virtually transparent because the existing operation already effectively provided value to our clients.

Many features make Agrivest a great company, old or new, but the most immediate improvement was the debut of dedicated farm management software. Certain benefits were capitalized upon by moving the data function, including check processing and statement generation, within Agrivest. With specific regard to statements and other financial reports, we are able to customize and modify layouts to keep pace with tax forms and exceed client expectations of analysis.

The features of our professional service our clients have come to rely on remain essentially unchanged. It is ironic how lack of change can be such a change of pace in a time of mind-boggling consolidation in the financial services industry. The Agrivest name and magnolia leaf logo signify strength and growth and the logo is reminiscent of the front of a one-dollar bill. After all, nurturing crops and financial goals is what Agrivest is all about.