Pat Morand is the CEO of the Private Equity firm Open Prairie. As a Private Equity investor, they are interested in being an owner of a company (perhaps not the controlling interest), which means the business owner must sell the company at some point, and a return upon the successful sale or “exit” at sale.
Open Prairie is partnering with the Farm Credit System and others to set up a fund to invest in businesses in Rural America (a community of 50,000 or fewer) via a license from the USDA for the Rural Business Investment Program. Banks also get Community Reinvestment Act credits for participating in the fund. And, the fund will invest in the geographic profile of that company.
Pat talks about the morality of other people’s money. When someone invests in Open Prairie, they owe that person full disclosure, accountability and reports to keep objectives and expectations are in alignment. Private Equity investors invest in some of the more high-risk investments in the marketplace. And while Open Prairie doesn’t invest in very early stage companies, all investments are the result of a relationship that builds trust before the actual financial transaction takes place.
