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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 15 M A R C H 2 1 , 2 0 1 6 achievement. It fulfi lls what he and 12 other potato farmers set out to do in 1995 when they had the idea that add- ing value to their potatoes — instead of continuing to sell them retail in fi ve- pound and 10-pound bags — was the best way to turn around a decades-long decline in Aroostook County's potato industry and a corresponding fl ight of its young people. He readily admits there've been more than a few challenges since then, and more than a few allies gained along the way. "It's with a lot of help," he says. "It's not by my doing alone that we've reached where we're at now." 'We've got to save ourselves' It took a while for the notion of "add- ing value" to potatoes to take root in McCrum's entrepreneurial mind. A fourth-generation potato farmer, he'd seen Maine topple from its throne as the top potato-growing state in the early 1950s, when more than 200,000 acres in Aroostook were in potato pro- duction. He initially thought getting bigger would be the answer. So in 1978, when a Mars Hill potato warehouse building and 1,600 acres of farmland became available in a foreclosure auction involving a Philadelphia-based supermarket chain, he persuaded his father and older brother to join with him in bid- ding on the properties. e $700,000 purchase greatly expanded their acre- age, but the fundamental problem remained: Selling Maine potatoes as a commodity, more years than not, was a losing money proposition. By the 1990s, McCrum knew it was time to rethink the problem. Noticing that ready-to-eat fresh garden salads were becoming increas- ingly popular with consumers, McCrum and Francis Fitzpatrick, an Aroostook potato farmer who sold most of his potatoes to Frito-Lay, wondered if there might be an opportunity to do the same with fresh-cut potatoes. It was a small market at that point, and wouldn't put them in head-to-head competition with the "big boys" making French fries and potato chips, namely McCain Foods USA, which has a plant in Easton, and Frito-Lay North America Inc., already a major buyer of Aroostook potatoes. e next big question: Who would process those fresh-cut potatoes for an untested ready-to-eat market? McCrum says they both came to the same realization: "Nobody is going to save us, so we better save ourselves." LARGE COMPANY BUSINESS LEADER Rodney McCrum President and COO, Pineland Farms Potato Co., Inc. Age: 66 Favorite place outside of work: Being with family and camping. Leadership icon: I have been fortunate enough to have two. First is my Dad, who taught me to work hard and was not afraid to give me the reins. However, when I started to get off course, he always helped guide me back and did not discourage my dreams. Second person is Bill Haggett, who has taught me more about business than any Harvard course could have taught me. I have been a very blessed to have these two fine gentlemen in my life. Maine's biggest challenge: We under-sell all the great attributes Maine has and its people. We have to stop waiting for people outside Maine to come and create the jobs here. We have many talented people in Maine that need support from all of us to make their vision and dreams become a reality. We also must convince our young people that with our help and support we can help them create jobs here in Maine. They are our greatest asset. Maine's biggest opportunity: For agriculture we have the opportunity to be the bread basket of the East. Sixty-five percent of the United States population is east of Mississippi river and we can reach them geographically easier than our competitors. Best business advice: Do not get in the boat all alone and always be ready to change course. 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