Catch Up With Chuck | Episode 13 | Future Rural Leaders

Rural Futures Institute Author

02/08/2018 Added

4 Plays

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Matt & Joe Brugger

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[00:00:02.070]Good morning.
[00:00:02.950]Welcome back to Catch Up with Chuck
[00:00:04.810]from the Rural Futures Institute
[00:00:06.730]at the University of Nebraska.
[00:00:08.630]I'm Chuck Schroeder.
[00:00:09.480]I'm the founding executive director
[00:00:10.870]of the Rural Futures Institute.
[00:00:13.330]You know, there's a prevailing myth
[00:00:15.440]around rural that the brightest and best young people,
[00:00:20.297]once they graduate from high school,
[00:00:22.320]wanna find the best paved road and get out of town
[00:00:24.930]and never come back.
[00:00:26.370]We have the opportunity at the Rural Futures Institute
[00:00:29.040]to work with students who are myth busters
[00:00:33.350]and who are glaring and glowing exceptions
[00:00:37.240]to that silly myth.
[00:00:38.800]Well joining me today are two guys
[00:00:41.160]from rural Albion, Nebraska.
[00:00:43.410]Don't adjust your screen.
[00:00:44.640]Yes, they are twins.
[00:00:46.300]We can tell them apart, but we're delighted
[00:00:49.190]to have 'em with us today.
[00:00:51.120]And they are not only fans of the community
[00:00:54.010]that they come from, but they are making plans
[00:00:57.580]to go back and build that community
[00:01:00.550]into something even greater.
[00:01:02.590]They have a big idea for a hopeful future for Albion
[00:01:06.970]and that whole region.
[00:01:08.950]So, Joseph and Matthew Brugger, Albion natives
[00:01:13.490]are high energy, very high achieving students
[00:01:16.060]here at the University of Nebraska Lincoln.
[00:01:18.160]They're involved in all kinds of activities,
[00:01:20.700]but in particular our acquaintance comes through
[00:01:24.550]the Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program
[00:01:27.290]that we've talked about on this show before.
[00:01:29.630]So, Joe and Matt, welcome to Catch Up with Chuck.
[00:01:33.215]Thank you.
[00:01:34.145]That was a heck of an introduction.
[00:01:36.785]You're making me feel really good.
[00:01:38.556]Maybe pull that down.
[00:01:40.230]Yes, exactly.
[00:01:41.670]Well listen, you two caught the attention
[00:01:44.700]of those of us at the Rural Futures Institute
[00:01:46.821]when you walked onto campus.
[00:01:48.890]You clearly came here with a plan, you're on a mission
[00:01:53.130]and you're happy to tell anybody that will listen to you
[00:01:56.910]about your belief and your hometown's future
[00:02:00.070]and your willingness to invest in it.
[00:02:02.160]So as we start here this morning,
[00:02:04.730]I want you to talk a little bit about
[00:02:07.720]your upbringing and your relationship with your community.
[00:02:11.500]What drove you two guys to feel so passionately
[00:02:14.900]about your hometown?
[00:02:16.790]Well I'd say honestly, you know,
[00:02:18.950]small towns that come from agriculture,
[00:02:20.410]so we grew up farm cattle, raised cattle,
[00:02:23.860]corn and soybeans, alfalfa, kind of had
[00:02:26.210]that whole experience growing up
[00:02:27.630]and it really focused us from the time,
[00:02:31.840]I can't remember not being in a tractor with dad
[00:02:34.227]from the time I was little to being able
[00:02:37.070]to go out and check cattle.
[00:02:39.614]That just carried on throughout our entire education.
[00:02:43.400]When we started high school or started school,
[00:02:46.010]you know, you have people that are like minded,
[00:02:48.173]different from you and you really get to share things
[00:02:53.030]with each other that I feel like in a small town
[00:02:55.760]that you don't really get that opportunity
[00:02:57.470]in larger communities and so like I said,
[00:03:00.480]agriculture has been kind of obviously
[00:03:02.270]the focal point of what we do
[00:03:04.620]and who made us who we are right now.
[00:03:06.840]Yeah, and I would say that that instilled
[00:03:08.840]a work ethic.
[00:03:09.673]So when we started out in high school,
[00:03:11.340]we definitely were not the most talented individuals,
[00:03:13.590]but we were able to work very hard
[00:03:17.490]at whatever we were involved in
[00:03:19.150]and I think that got some community support
[00:03:21.420]behind just us as individuals
[00:03:23.530]and so we were able to have a little bit of success,
[00:03:26.030]but that really drove us to say, you know,
[00:03:27.880]they kind of took ownership on us and stuff like that.
[00:03:31.510]They were able to put things back into us
[00:03:33.590]that we wanna be able to give back now
[00:03:35.620]that we've been able to take the skills
[00:03:36.990]that we've gained from our community
[00:03:38.420]and growing up in that environment
[00:03:40.000]and we wanna return that back to our community.
[00:03:42.900]Listen, I want you to talk just a little bit more
[00:03:45.000]about your parents, and you've talked about your mother
[00:03:47.280]as an educator and how that's driven the way you think
[00:03:52.130]about your role in the world.
[00:03:53.820]So say a word or two about that
[00:03:55.723]and then we'll go on to some other things.
[00:03:57.786]I think it's an important story.
[00:03:58.900]So our parents were like, again,
[00:04:01.610]it's funny 'cause I feel like we have a very good
[00:04:04.660]dynamic of both sides of the spectrum in our family.
[00:04:06.960]Our dad's a down to earth guy, he's funny.
[00:04:08.940]He wakes up in the morning and he just
[00:04:11.250]lights up every morning like, you'll,
[00:04:13.410]and then my mom is more of this, you know,
[00:04:15.430]she is the tactics, strategic person
[00:04:19.060]who puts everything in place.
[00:04:21.952]We grew up through that entire experience
[00:04:24.930]and our mom was a stay at home mom
[00:04:27.050]and a farm wife for a long time.
[00:04:29.360]Until we got into high school,
[00:04:31.270]she decided that she wanted to go back to school
[00:04:33.620]and do what her passion was, which is honestly,
[00:04:36.560]like you said, in educating, more specifically
[00:04:39.140]in mental health.
[00:04:40.150]And she went back to school.
[00:04:42.440]She went to Doane.
[00:04:44.804]We graduated the exact same time, which is really cool.
[00:04:47.660]But she has played a huge role in, I feel like,
[00:04:50.190]our mindsets as people, as being able to really come down
[00:04:55.590]and live in the moment, in what we're doing
[00:04:57.210]and love what we're doing and ask us the hard questions.
[00:05:00.410]Makes us ask the hard questions.
[00:05:01.844]Makes us question things that are uncomfortable
[00:05:06.100]for most people to answer,
[00:05:07.330]but once you really start thinking about it, you know,
[00:05:09.927]both of our parents have been big motivators
[00:05:12.040]in helping us be innovative and think differently
[00:05:14.910]than other people and asking
[00:05:16.470]why are things done this way and why.
[00:05:18.860]I think that's the biggest thing for us anyway.
[00:05:20.960]Even asking like why do we do things a certain way.
[00:05:23.310]And that goes back to the mindfulness piece
[00:05:25.050]that I think our mom really tried to instill in us.
[00:05:27.210]I mean, even I remember at a young age,
[00:05:28.770]our mom asking us to when we washed our hands,
[00:05:32.460]she'd say just feel how that feels.
[00:05:35.080]Feel the soap between your hands.
[00:05:36.800]Feel the water running over you hands
[00:05:38.210]and when she did that, that was teaching us
[00:05:40.640]subconsciously how to just be in that moment.
[00:05:43.170]Not look in the future, not look in the past,
[00:05:45.800]but just be in that moment.
[00:05:46.830]And that enabled us to be more successful, I think,
[00:05:51.680]in the things that we do because we enjoyed where we were,
[00:05:54.750]not looking being so futuristic or so living in the past,
[00:05:59.170]that we were able just to be in the moment.
[00:06:01.280]It's allowed us to take ownership in our community
[00:06:04.460]in a better way because we saw something
[00:06:06.710]for what it was at the time.
[00:06:08.390]What it could be, what it was,
[00:06:10.520]but at that time, we see the people
[00:06:13.450]for who they are and what they had given us at that time.
[00:06:15.970]I don't think we would have been as half as successful
[00:06:18.040]as we were in high school in what we were doing
[00:06:20.120]if it wasn't for the people at that time
[00:06:21.770]that had given us the encouragement
[00:06:24.410]and empowered us to do the things that we were
[00:06:27.760]really passionate about.
[00:06:28.890]That's just so important.
[00:06:30.610]So listen, okay, you guys come from rural Nebraska.
[00:06:33.210]You've driven up and down rural highways,
[00:06:35.850]you've gone through lots of communities.
[00:06:37.850]You know that two communities 20 miles apart
[00:06:41.890]can have a very different feel about their vitality,
[00:06:45.610]their promise for the future.
[00:06:48.300]You have seen something in Albion
[00:06:51.510]that says this is a place we wanna be,
[00:06:54.160]we believe it does have promise.
[00:06:55.760]Talk a little bit about what you think are the unique assets
[00:06:59.300]of Albion that can be built upon.
[00:07:02.060]Yeah, I think what makes Albion unique
[00:07:05.640]is well one, I mean, if you wanna talk
[00:07:07.310]just infrastructure wise, there's a great school system,
[00:07:09.750]very progressive minded.
[00:07:10.740]They take a lot of things that Joe and I believe in.
[00:07:13.394]They take it seriously.
[00:07:14.600]We were taken seriously in any idea
[00:07:16.140]that we expressed, even as high schoolers
[00:07:19.070]and that makes it a place that makes it feel like,
[00:07:21.930]okay my ideas matter here.
[00:07:24.030]So why would I not wanna go back?
[00:07:25.880]Why would I wanna leave the place
[00:07:27.180]that I can travel everywhere I want,
[00:07:30.100]but this is home.
[00:07:30.933]And so that was a big portion of it.
[00:07:33.050]There's a great healthcare system.
[00:07:35.650]Great place for elderly care.
[00:07:36.880]It's a safe community.
[00:07:37.980]So you could talk structurally wise,
[00:07:39.740]but I think what really made us want to invest
[00:07:42.480]in Albion is the attitude of the people.
[00:07:46.140]I mean, I think it goes back to if you wanna be successful
[00:07:49.260]as a rural community, you have to be able to
[00:07:52.070]kind of pass on the torch, in a way,
[00:07:54.151]to the younger generation, believe in them,
[00:07:56.470]take a risk in them.
[00:07:57.310]Because I don't wanna go back to a place
[00:07:59.590]that doesn't believe in me.
[00:08:00.423]I don't wanna go back into a place
[00:08:01.450]that doesn't feel that I can add value.
[00:08:03.470]And I think that goes back to our current education system
[00:08:06.200]is they were accepting and letting us choose
[00:08:09.320]kind of our path that they believed.
[00:08:10.950]They say okay you understand how to get
[00:08:16.660]to where you wanna go, that's up to you,
[00:08:18.800]we'll give you the tools.
[00:08:20.080]And when they did that, that allowed us to say
[00:08:22.760]okay we have the opportunity to build our future
[00:08:26.830]how we want to and that makes it not seem
[00:08:28.990]like we have to leave the community to be successful
[00:08:31.540]or to accomplish our goals.
[00:08:34.160]I think it's a whole empowering piece.
[00:08:35.520]We were never forced to go one way or the other
[00:08:38.030]or it was never an expectation that we had to come back.
[00:08:40.550]It was always an empowering thing.
[00:08:42.540]The people in our lives always made it easy for us
[00:08:45.160]to want to come back because they never told us
[00:08:47.390]what we had to do.
[00:08:48.223]They acted as resources to show us
[00:08:50.840]that we could be successful in our small town.
[00:08:53.220]Yeah, it's interesting, we had the opportunity
[00:08:54.850]to work with a group here at the university
[00:08:58.460]on developing Capstone.
[00:09:00.040]And while we were going through this
[00:09:01.230]and we were sorting out the details
[00:09:02.530]of how this Capstone was gonna work,
[00:09:04.225]we got into the point where we were trying to come up
[00:09:06.330]with ways to grade.
[00:09:07.950]And a couple of students who, they're awesome,
[00:09:10.610]we love working with, like the people of this group
[00:09:12.710]is just great and some of them suggested, you know,
[00:09:16.070]maybe you need to do this interview
[00:09:18.210]and get this scholarly article and have these things in line
[00:09:21.610]and I think that kind of struck a cord with Joe and I
[00:09:24.000]'cause we kind of both kind of jumped up
[00:09:25.440]and all of the sudden we we're like no, no, no, no
[00:09:26.670]we can't do that because for us
[00:09:28.840]we wanna say here's your opportunities,
[00:09:30.900]here's the things, here's our resources,
[00:09:33.020]now you get to decide how to execute this project
[00:09:36.170]or this goal that you're trying to get to.
[00:09:40.050]Even if it's not the right answer,
[00:09:41.470]their ability to think of it,
[00:09:43.270]to come up with the answer themselves
[00:09:44.480]is more empowering than it ever has been
[00:09:45.790]and we had that ability.
[00:09:47.050]Lifelong (mumbles).
[00:09:47.883]Yes, exactly, Absolutely.
[00:09:49.070]And that's Engler.
[00:09:51.040]Honestly, that's Engler.
[00:09:52.958]It puts us the tools in our toolbox
[00:09:54.539]to be able to control our own destiny.
[00:09:56.740]It doesn't push us into one category or another.
[00:09:59.670]It doesn't turn out commodity students.
[00:10:01.880]It makes you a unique individual
[00:10:03.690]and that's what--
[00:10:04.523]A very different approach to education.
[00:10:06.510]And Engler really represents our hometown
[00:10:09.590]and that's what we loved about Engler
[00:10:10.890]and that's what we love about our hometown.
[00:10:12.760]Well listen, okay, you two guys look alike,
[00:10:15.850]but I happen to know that you really have
[00:10:18.720]different talents, different strengths,
[00:10:20.991]some different interests that you clearly love
[00:10:24.370]working together.
[00:10:25.530]Talk a little bit about your differences, if you will,
[00:10:29.050]and what you believe you bring to the table
[00:10:30.770]when you start talking about going back to Albion.
[00:10:34.350]Well I think when we came, well I guess,
[00:10:38.030]when we came to the Engler Entrepreneurship Program
[00:10:39.740]we knew we wanted to work in rural communities,
[00:10:41.880]but we really didn't know what we were gonna do.
[00:10:43.760]Throughout our time here, we started a business
[00:10:46.410]called Upstream.
[00:10:48.498]We started off with kind of it focuses
[00:10:51.010]on our two different areas of influences.
[00:10:52.394]My influence or where I'm working here at the university
[00:10:55.590]is animal science, I'm really interested in that.
[00:10:57.690]So through that, we were able
[00:10:59.190]to open up an account with the University of Nebraska
[00:11:01.500]Athletic Department and do a valued added product
[00:11:03.520]with our beef.
[00:11:04.870]We have a booth down at the farmers' market.
[00:11:07.660]We supply beef to probably 100 different customers
[00:11:10.330]through the Lincoln and Omaha area
[00:11:11.820]and that has been a very learning experience.
[00:11:14.580]It's a logistics in marketing business
[00:11:16.020]more than it is a beef business,
[00:11:17.670]but it's the way that I think that I can add value
[00:11:19.940]to what we're doing in Albion to kind of
[00:11:25.460]have a place there, I guess, that allow us
[00:11:27.650]to actually live there and work there and stuff like that.
[00:11:30.560]Yeah, my area obviously is agronomy.
[00:11:32.810]It's kind of a full closed loop system
[00:11:35.002]where I'm really focused on the feed
[00:11:37.560]that we feed our cattle
[00:11:38.393]to produce quality beef.
[00:11:42.610]And I've really taken that into account
[00:11:46.289]when it comes to our customers.
[00:11:48.276]They wanna know where their food is coming from.
[00:11:51.440]There's a passion for that.
[00:11:52.720]There's a demand for that.
[00:11:53.680]And so one of the great parts about our story
[00:11:56.300]is that we can tell the entire story of that
[00:11:58.752]because Matthew is really focused on the animal
[00:12:01.070]and I'm really focused on the feed of that animal
[00:12:02.710]and the nutrition that animal gets.
[00:12:04.710]But on a bigger scale even, I feel like
[00:12:06.250]with economic development, when you talk about
[00:12:08.070]any sort of development of a rural community,
[00:12:10.149]I would say that you're more focused on economic development
[00:12:13.770]and business, creating business and stimulating
[00:12:17.930]a good economy in a rural community,
[00:12:20.030]and my area is more focused on social development,
[00:12:22.790]so the education system.
[00:12:24.320]You know, how every aspect of that
[00:12:26.349]because you talk about two parts of a rural community
[00:12:29.940]and you look at it, you know,
[00:12:30.773]yeah you have to have these businesses
[00:12:32.300]that are providing the people for their town
[00:12:35.150]and people have to go to those businesses
[00:12:36.388]for the town to be successful.
[00:12:38.810]But when it comes down to it, it's a mindset.
[00:12:40.870]You know, it's this mindset that we kind of need to
[00:12:42.956]get over it and that doesn't start by just saying,
[00:12:45.450]you're right, I'm wrong.
[00:12:46.520]It starts at a very young age
[00:12:48.870]when a kid is starting to progress
[00:12:51.359]through these ideas.
[00:12:52.705]About sixth grade is when a kid really starts
[00:12:55.990]to decide what do I want to do for the rest of my life
[00:12:59.280]or at least that's when it was for me.
[00:13:01.650]And I started looking to the future
[00:13:03.250]and starting thinking, okay what is it that I want to do?
[00:13:04.950]Do I want to move away?
[00:13:05.790]Do I want to do all of these things
[00:13:07.240]or do I want to stay here?
[00:13:08.660]Is there where my home is at?
[00:13:11.950]Those were very influential times
[00:13:13.590]where I feel like there are things
[00:13:16.336]and things in our education systems
[00:13:18.050]that set us up for people to leave.
[00:13:20.323]Where kids want to leave.
[00:13:22.690]They feel like that's their only option to be successful.
[00:13:25.090]And so I feel like that is just as important
[00:13:27.438]as being able to create businesses in a rural community.
[00:13:30.520]And with that, that's kind of where
[00:13:31.860]our motivation stems from, from creating business.
[00:13:33.860]Yes, we love selling beef.
[00:13:35.800]We love working with producers and consulting
[00:13:38.120]and stuff like that.
[00:13:38.953]That's a big part of what we do.
[00:13:40.670]But I think the goal behind that is to grow something
[00:13:44.150]that is the backbone for younger children
[00:13:46.230]and younger kids in schools to say,
[00:13:47.830]okay you're being told you can't do it this way,
[00:13:49.670]but we're doing it this way.
[00:13:51.350]So you can do it this way.
[00:13:52.699]We wanna be that backbone.
[00:13:54.590]And like I said, just to reflect what Joe says,
[00:13:56.440]I think at the end of the day,
[00:13:57.920]it comes down to build a really good rural community,
[00:14:01.220]you have to be able to say, you can do this
[00:14:04.600]and you can do it here and empowering those kids
[00:14:07.050]and not laying out their education for them,
[00:14:09.050]but let them take ownership.
[00:14:10.260]Let them choose that.
[00:14:11.440]Because once they do that,
[00:14:13.360]then they're able to feel like they have a home here.
[00:14:18.010]They don't have to leave their community
[00:14:19.240]to be successful.
[00:14:20.330]So that's really what we wanna do long-term goal,
[00:14:22.280]is be that backbone and allow kids to have,
[00:14:25.960]give them permission to say, no go for it.
[00:14:27.890]You can.
[00:14:29.690]Well here's one of the reasons I ask this question
[00:14:32.020]because I watch you two guys and I've enjoyed
[00:14:34.700]the engagement with you, so often when we think
[00:14:38.170]of entrepreneurship and you're in
[00:14:39.829]a very unique entrepreneurship program here at Nebraska,
[00:14:43.670]we always think about that as being
[00:14:45.833]business entrepreneurship, but the truth is,
[00:14:49.687]there are business entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs
[00:14:53.630]that have to work together to make a great community
[00:14:57.060]that's prepared for the future.
[00:14:59.173]Well listen, we're running out of time.
[00:15:01.618]One of the things that we preach
[00:15:04.760]here at the Rural Futures Institute
[00:15:06.560]is that for a rural community to thrive,
[00:15:09.520]it has to have leadership that matters, number one,
[00:15:13.970]and number two, it has to have a hopeful vision
[00:15:16.970]backed by grit.
[00:15:18.870]You two, I believe, are classic examples
[00:15:22.460]of the kind of leadership that's preparing
[00:15:24.360]to go to rural communities and provide that difference
[00:15:28.080]making impact.
[00:15:29.990]We're so proud of you.
[00:15:30.950]Anything you'd like to add before we wrap up?
[00:15:33.810]To any young viewers out there
[00:15:35.550]that are watching right now,
[00:15:37.870]make sure that you know that you can make an impact
[00:15:40.470]where you're at right now.
[00:15:41.303]It doesn't matter how old you are.
[00:15:43.350]I've seen six year olds that are making mailboxes
[00:15:47.330]and painting mailboxes for people
[00:15:48.720]and that was their business because they cared
[00:15:50.121]about the people around and they cared
[00:15:51.770]about their neighbors.
[00:15:52.690]You can make a difference and you can do that
[00:15:54.296]anyway that you see fit and it can align
[00:15:56.940]with your goals in your life right now.
[00:15:59.260]I would say the older people in the community,
[00:16:02.670]understand that you were a younger child once too
[00:16:06.066]and that you know how much just a little bit of time
[00:16:11.651]and empowerment to a younger child,
[00:16:14.525]what that can do for them and what they could turn into
[00:16:17.910]or what they can blossom into
[00:16:19.930]and we've had people do that for us
[00:16:22.960]and I think you have a lot more people
[00:16:24.380]wanting to come back to your community
[00:16:25.630]if you allow them to do that.
[00:16:26.960]So I guess that's it.
[00:16:28.570]We think the world is gonna be a better place tomorrow
[00:16:31.140]than today with leaders like these going back
[00:16:33.480]to rural communities.
[00:16:34.610]Well listen, stay in touch with the Rural Futures Institute
[00:16:37.213]through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,
[00:16:40.374]LinkedIn, as well as our website
[00:16:43.919]and know that we're gonna be back in weeks to come
[00:16:46.890]talking to real people about real places
[00:16:49.180]that demonstrate thriving rural communities
[00:16:52.280]are a legitimate best choice for worthwhile living.
[00:16:54.730]Thanks for joining us.

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Catch Up With Chuck | Episode 13 | Future Rural Leaders

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