Aces of Trades: Jim Ramsey juggles two positions with an agriculture focus
CHILLICOTHE – He grew up in one industry – that led him to another.
“I spent summers driving tractors, cutting weeds out of the soybean fields, and helping de-tassel corn,” recalled Jim Ramsey. “In 1991, I was just starting high school and my grandfather decided to put up a 20'x80' greenhouse to grow more vegetables and some hanging baskets. I don’t think I ever thought at the time I would end up involved in the business. I wanted to get out in the world and do something else entirely.”
Today, Ramsey is owner (with his parents) of Mile Tree Lawn & Garden LLC in Clarksburg. And he’s assistant vice president of agriculture and commercial lending at Kingston National Bank in Chillicothe.
“I’m still running the greenhouse business making a lot of the decisions and ordering/purchasing all the products,” he said. “Day-to-day operations are managed by Anna Michael who has worked for Mile Tree Lawn & Garden for almost 20 years and a great group of employees.”
“I still love the greenhouse business and the horticultural industry,” Ramsey added. “I also love my job as a lender, helping people start and expand their business. Finding ways to make someone's dreams a reality is one of the biggest rewards as a lender.”
“My vacation days away from the bank,” he continued, “are usually spent working at ‘my other job’ at the greenhouse, but it isn’t really a job if you love what you are doing! The blue collar vs. white collar nature of each work really well together. It also helps me understand what challenges my business customers are facing in their own businesses.”
Ramsey grew up on his father’s family’s dairy farm in Louisville, Ohio. When he was 11, the family moved to Clarksburg and his father took over the family seed business, Hiser Seeds, which has been in business since the 1940s. Ramsey graduated from Adena High School in 1996 and then Ohio State in 2001 with a degree in landscape horticulture. He started to run Mile Tree Lawn & Garden after college.
“In 2019 I decided I was going to get out of the landscape business,” he said. “It’s kind of hard on the body! It was a big decision because it was a thriving business! I took a job with Kingston National Bank and started as an ag and commercial loan officer in June of 2020. I didn’t know a lot about the banking industry, but they were interested in my background in agriculture and the fact I had run a successful business for 20 years. The experience of running my own business and understanding finance definitely helped in my new career.”
In 2022 Ramsey was promoted to assistant vice president of ag and commercial lending at the bank.
“Jim is the perfect fit for our culture at KNB,” assessed Allan Helber, senior vice president of Kingston National Bank. “His experience as a small business owner has really given him excellent perspective as a commercial loan officer and Jim has developed into a leader on our ag lending team.”
“Looking back, I’m blessed with the path my career has taken,” Ramsey responded. “I was really lucky everything fell into place when it did. I had my business loans with Kingston National Bank and went in to talk to my loan officer and they just happened to be looking to hire an ag and commercial lender.”
For more information about Mile Tree Lawn & Garden LLC, log on www.miletreegreenhouse.com.For more information about Kingston National Bank, log on www.kingstonnationalbank.com.
About the Series
Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs – whether they’re unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at gaznews@nncogannett.com or 740-349-1110.
This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Aces of Trades: Jim Ramsey juggles two positions with an agriculture focus
