Vic Heinold has done a little bit of everything in agriculture. He’s a jack of all trades; and if you know anything about recruiting, you know just how valuable that makes him to those looking for their next career opportunity…and those looking to hire those folks.
Vic loves agriculture. And more than agriculture, Vic loves people.
Grain. Feed. Agronomy. Politics. International feed ingredient sales. Recruiting. It may all look a little different on paper and certainly different in the day-to-day, but the good people supplying the world with food, fuel and fiber is the common thread that keeps us all invested in this industry.
The Early Years
Vic grew up in Kouts, Indiana, attended Purdue University and, in 1979, took over responsibility for his family business, Heinold Elevator and Feeds.
“I ran a family business for about 38 years. It was all agriculture—grain, feed, agronomy, everything,” Vic said.
During that time, Heinold Feeds grew into one of the top specialty feed manufacturers in the country and became a highly recognized premix manufacturer specializing in dairy. However, the development of a line of rabbit feed is one of the accomplishments Vic holds most dear.
“I am most proud of the line of rabbit feed we developed,” he shares. It was sold nationwide and recognized as the preferred product for the rabbit world. The Heinold Rabbit Feed brand is still going strong today.”
In 2004, Vic decided it was time to give something else a try. He wanted to make more of a difference.
He sold his interest in the family business and was elected to the Indiana State Senate, where he sponsored and authored legislation focused on making Indiana a better place to do business in agriculture, which included helping to create an environment where ethanol production could grow.
He didn’t let politics keep him away from the business of agriculture for long, however.
While serving in the Senate, Vic began consulting with Consolidated Grain & Barge (CGB) as the company explored building a feed ingredient business focused heavily on distillers dried grains. Eventually, CGB asked him to come aboard and build the business full time.
Vic took the opportunity, moved his family to Louisiana and went to work.
By 2011, the business had grown to approximately $200 million in annual sales, and Vic found himself spending much of his time traveling throughout Asia developing markets. It was successful, but as any dedicated road…airway…warrior will tell you, travel never comes without a cost.
He was missing too much at home.
So, Vic called his friend Dave Allen and ended up in a career that seemed custom-made for him. Even if it was one he’d never really considered.
“On the third conversation Dave said, ‘Well, have you ever considered recruiting?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, no,’” Vic recalls with a laugh.
“I thought about it. We talked about it, and I thought, ‘Let’s do this.’”
That was 2011.
Still Going Strong
Nearly 15 years later, Vic is still changing lives with the conversations he has every day.
His decades in grain and feed gave him something that’s hard to teach: he knew the industry inside and out from firsthand experience. He understands the businesses, the jobs and the people doing the hiring. He has a good handle on what they need, and he knows what employees are looking for.
He’s been in both roles, after all.
“It’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever been blessed to do. It may sound hokey, but helping people is the best part of what we get to do every day. We talk to companies that are in desperate need of help finding good people to build their teams. And some people are looking for better opportunities, but in this economy, a lot of people have been affected and are at a low point. When we can help them, put them in a better place, with good companies, working for good people. It just feels right,” he explains. “The older I get, the less it’s about money and the more it’s about just doing right by people.”
A lot has changed since Vic started recruiting. The business that once revolved around the mailbox and fax machine has transitioned to phone calls, the AGRI-SEARCH website and social media. But at the end of the day, technology can’t replace relationships.
Vic has candidates he has placed more than once as their careers have changed. Others find him years later at industry events just to say hello and tell him where life has taken them.
He jokes that trade shows are reconnections.
“Every tradeshow or industry event, I’ll have people come up and say, ‘Hey how are you?’, and sometimes it takes me a minute and a memory refresh. One time at a trade show, three guys got to talking and realized that I had placed all three. They found me at the AGRI-SEARCH booth the next day and told me I needed to buy the three of them a drink. I said, ‘No, I think you guys need to buy ME a drink,” he laughs.
Those moments, the everyday satisfaction, are a pretty good explanation of why he’s still doing the job.
“I have enjoyed everything I did before, and I’ve enjoyed, and still enjoy, being here doing what I’m doing today,” Vic says.
Today, Vic serves as a Senior Recruiter specializing in grain, feed and nutrition, along with management positions for state and national agriculture associations.
He is also the proud father of 5, grandfather of 16 and great-grandfather of 10. His service outside of work includes The Gideons International, the Florida Guardian ad Litem Program, Florida Feed Association, American Feed Industry Association and Indiana Grain and Feed Association, where he served as chairman.
After a career that has taken him from a family feed business in Indiana to the Statehouse, international agriculture and AGRI-SEARCH, Vic has seen plenty of change.
But agriculture is still agriculture. Relationships are still the intersection of success. And helping the right person find the right place is still enough to keep him answering the phone every day.
