Ag Trends

Scott Kesler is passionate about giving back to the community. He encourages his colleagues to be involved with local organizations; creates opportunity and motivation to participate in AgWest philanthropic efforts; and is personally involved with various Montana-based groups and initiatives aimed at developing more accessible, affordable, and sustainable food sources. Scott believes that investing in the people and places you serve is always good business, and that supportive communities embody the most important AgWest values.

Meet Scott

Scott grew up on a cattle ranch that his grandparents and family built along the Rocky Mountain Front of northern Montana. His Montana roots run deep, and the pride he has for his state – with the people, recreation and opportunities it has to offer – is evident. Scott attended the University of Montana, venturing outside his agricultural roots with initial ambitions of becoming a cartographer. He ultimately found interests in finance, business, and economics, and graduated with bachelor’s degrees in both finance and geography.

Prior to AgWest, Scott worked with various financial institutions outside of agriculture. He had the opportunity to return to Montana in November 2015 for a position with Northwest FCS, and currently serves as Branch Manager of AgWest’s Missoula location.

Committed to community

Scott cites Rural Community Grants as his team’s broadest outreach tool. He explains, “It gives us the opportunity to participate in projects in every town from Butte to Eureka.” With a territory roughly the size of South Carolina, encompassing 13 counties and countless communities, this has served as a valuable resource and one that Scott is grateful AgWest supports. He is quick to credit the organization for creating this culture of philanthropy and support, adding that his staff is incredibly involved in both 4H and FFA, and that they all make an effort to support these organizations everywhere they have a presence.

Scott and his team are also involved with Team Giving, in which teams select one non-profit organization to support each year. Last year the team focused their efforts on Camp Māk-A-Dream, a medically supervised, cost-free Montana experience for families affected by cancer. The camp is located on a ranch outside Missoula, which was donated by its previous owners specifically for this purpose. Scott notes, “It’s a really good example of our industry stepping up for a cause that benefits not just our community, but kids nationwide.”

Beyond this, Scott helps to get his team involved through some friendly alma mater rivalry. Each year, they hold a food bank competition in conjunction with the annual University of Montana vs. Montana State University “Brawl of the Wild” football game. All donations go to the Montana Food Bank Network. The MSU Bobcats far outweigh the UM Griz in their office, but Scott says they have managed to take home the bragging rights once or twice.

Innovating change

Outside the office, Scott is heavily involved in solving food supply and hunger problems in the state. He is the Treasurer of the Montana Food Bank Network as well as Treasurer of The Producer Partnership, a nonprofit organization founded in the Spring of 2020 to meet an immediate need for nourishing protein – something that had become expensive and challenging to find in a pandemic. The organization facilitated livestock donations, processing and distribution throughout the pandemic, and eventually built their own processing facility in 2022. The Producer Partnership continues their mission to end hunger in Montana today and donated more than 100,000 pounds of hamburger to the Montana Food Bank Network in 2023.

Scott also serves on the Missoula County Public School (MCPS) Agricultural Education Board and has seen firsthand how grant support can transform a community. The MCPS Ag program, which serves the various high schools in Missoula County, was the recipient of several grants in 2014 – including one from Northwest FCS – to build a meat processing plant. The school had maintained a farm for nearly a century, and the processing plant allowed them to incorporate butchering skills to their program. They were the first school in the country to build a state-inspected butchering shop, and much of the meat produced by the program is purchased by local schools. He further supports education by serving on the Accounting & Finance Advisory Board at the University of Montana as well as serving on the Advisory Committee or Accelerate Montana’s Access to Finance in Montana Study.

Walking the walk

Scott believes the programs the company invests in are incredibly important and fall in line with AgWest customer values. Part of what he loves about agriculture is that the community supports each other, noting “Rural communities are always highly involved in making sure that people are well taken care of and have opportunities, so it’s important for AgWest – not only for our purpose but also to best serve our customers – that we’re involved with that as well.”