Pair of Imperial men part of latest LEAD study group

    Two men from Imperial are part of the latest group of LEAD participants who will begin the  two-year program this month.
    Jakob Burke and Jon Lechtenberg were announced this week as members of the 2022-24 Group 41.
    Dr. Terry Hejny, program director, said the newest members of Nebraska’s premier agricultural leadership development program are involved in production agriculture and/or agribusiness in Nebraska.
    Burke has worked for Adams Bank since 2015, and  as a loan officer there since 2016. He works primarily as an ag lender, working with ag producers to develop their cash flow for the year and help determine what is needed financially for their operation. Prior to college graduation, he worked summers in Enders for Tom and Lynn Luhrs while in high school and college.
    Lechtenberg grew up on a family farm/ranch in Butte. After majoring in agribusiness and ag education at UNL, he taught ag and was FFA advisor at Southern Valley High School in Oxford for 10 years.

    After two years as Chase County Schools 7-12 principal, Lechtenberg left education to take a job as a grain merchandiser for Gavilon in Benkelman and Imperial, leading to his current position as a grain marketing advisor with Lincoln-based The ARC Group. He has a branch office in Imperial and serves clients in southwest Nebraska and northwest Kansas.
    “I am excited to get started with them as it appears that Class 41 is filled with outstanding individuals from throughout our state,” Hejny said.
    “Our task will be to prepare and motivate them for future leadership roles in their community, our state, and beyond,” he said.
    LEAD Fellows will participate in 12 monthly three-day seminars across Nebraska, a 10-day national study-travel seminar and a 14-16 day international study-travel seminar.
    The goal of the program is to develop problem-solvers, decision-makers and spokespersons for Nebraska agriculture and beyond, Hejny added.
    Seminar themes will include leadership assessment/potential, natural resources, energy, communication, agricultural policy/finance, international trade, Nebraska’s political process, social/cultural issues, agribusiness and marketing, information technology, advances in healthcare, resources and people of Nebraska’s Panhandle and more.
    The Nebraska LEAD Program is governed by the non-profit Nebraska Agricultural Leadership Council in cooperation with the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and 13 other institutions of higher education throughout Nebraska.