Employee Spotlight: Marty Harris
Employee Spotlights
Job Title: Credit Analyst
Location: Verona Operations Center
Tenure: 2.5 years
Briefly describe your involvement in 4-H. I grew up showing Holstein heifers in the Orange County 4-H Dairy club.
Briefly describe your involvement in agriculture. I grew up raising Holstein replacements, then purebred Angus pairs (and briefly Boer goats as well) on my family farm in Orange, Va. My wife and I hope to start our own farm operation one day soon.
Are you involved in any other clubs or organizations? I am an alumni brother of the Beta Eta chapter of Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity at Virginia Tech.
Has anyone in your family had a significant impact on you? My grandfather, Bill Harris, had a huge part in making me the person I am today. He milked cows for four years after college before answering the call to the ministry, and used to tell me how much he appreciated the support of the local Federal Land Bank loan officer (FCV's predecessor) when he was managing his farm operation.
What is your favorite childhood memory? One of my favorite childhood memories is showing cows at the Orange County Fair – it was three days of playing cards with my friends, taking care of our animals and teaching the public about the dairy industry.
Who is your favorite author? My favorite author is Clive Cussler. He has written enough books that I can re-read one and usually not notice that I have already read it.
What is your favorite movie, or quote from a movie? My favorite movie is Cool Runnings. I grew up quoting Sanka Coffie whenever given the chance and John Candy turned in one of his best performances, in my opinion (and he had plenty of great ones!).
What is your favorite season? My favorite season is the fall. Cooler weather, Hokie football and hunting season make it the season to beat.
What's at the top of your bucket list? I would love to take a trip to Argentina for a dove hunt once my son is old enough to join me.
What is your favorite place you've ever visited? My favorite place I have visited is Ireland. Great food, friendly people and amazing views greeted us at every turn and we hope to visit again one day.
What was your dream job as a child? When I grow up, I hope to be a paleontologist and discover a new species of dinosaur.
What is your favorite thing about Farm Credit? My favorite thing about Farm Credit is our mission to support our stakeholders. So many businesses are driven solely by profit-based decision making; while FCV also wants to earn a profit, we keep the best interest of our member-owners in mind with every decision we make. And then we get to pass any profit back to our member-owners in the form of patronage!
What are your hopes for the ag industry? For our farming community, I hope for low input costs, good conception rates and rain every Sunday with clear skies in between.
What is one random fact you'd like to share? I used to work for a turkey processing plant as a project engineer. I managed a $4 million per year capital budget for 7 years before coming to FCV.