Anna Grace Parnell, AgButler
AgButler just hired its first ‘non-founder’ employee, Anna Grace Parnell. Her part-time role is that of ‘Connection Cultivator’ – essentially a field rep for the South and Southeast regions for AgButler. A first hire is a big deal for any startup, and the Alabama native comes with an agricultural background, degrees and connections.
“She recently finished up her Master’s at Auburn University, so she has a pretty good connection to one of our target demographics: college age agriculturalists that are looking to gain more experience… and maybe help increase their income as well,” AgButler CEO Kevin Johansen told the 4thEst8.
AgButler is a digital marketplace connecting agricultural workers with the farmers who need them. Johansen says it’s active in 42 states, has 1350 users, the app is in revenue (a paid Beta) and his focus is on further product development and market penetration – and that’s where Parnell comes in.
“Our Southeast and South was starting to gain users and we needed somebody in that area that had a background and history… Anna Grace was a perfect fit,” Johansen said. “Being in that area, but also doing her undergraduate at Oklahoma State… she has just as much of a large network as the rest of the team does.”
The company formally started in July 2018 and at the time Johansen expected to do some fundraising in 2020 with a ‘soft launch’ in July 2020. Their marketing campaign followed this spring.
The Lebanon, MO based startup has no full time employees yet, with the team kicking in part time – Johansen says he expects to jump to full time ”in the next month or so.” The company also received a little funding from the Efactory Accelerator of Missouri State University, and participated in last years Pure Pitch Rally.
Links:
AgButler
On the 4thEst8:
