Randy Bender, CISR, NRWCS

 Business Development was my first job when I was 9. My older brother wanted to start a grass cutting business in grade school but didn’t want to find customers. I was too young to push a lawn mower or help with the physical labor so we agreed he would give me $5 per grass cut if I could find him customers and collect the money every week. After a few weeks my brother had more grass to cut than he could handle, and I spent the next 3 years visiting customers until I was old enough to take over the workload. 

My Dad was a big influence on me growing up. He started his own business when I was younger but I was just old enough to understand and appreciate how much work goes into building a business from the ground up.   

 New years Eve is the only holiday that my wife and I refuse to go anywhere. After we had children we tried to visit family for new years but after the first year we said “Never Again”. Just for the simple fact of avoiding the hassle of travel and drunk people we have stayed home with all our children for the last 15 years. Our tradition hasn’t changed much from when they were little, they each get a new board game for Christmas each year. Starting at 5 o’clock we will play each game for an hour before moving onto the next and play games until the ball drops. Now that we have two teenagers, Mom’s menu for night is there highlight of New Year’s, but they still get excited when they find the board game present at Christmas. 

My first car was a Pontiac 6000 I bought for $500 the day I got my license. 

 I am the younger brother and it definitely affects my personality. Younger children are more resilient and adaptive than older siblings

Playing basketball and baseball with my kids

News. There is nothing positive that news agencies report on anymore