Deep roots: Pine Creek Seed Farm recognized by Pennsylvania Small Business Administration

Pine Seed Creek Farm near Jersey Shore, was the recipients of the Eastern Pennsylvania Family-Owned Small Business of the Year award, presented during a ceremony on Monday. Seen here is the McCracken family, Chris McCraken, center, holding the award and wife Jennifer, right. KAREN VIBERT-KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Fighting back tears, Chris McCracken shared fond memories of detasseling corn as a youngster on his family’s Jersey Shore-area farm before accepting this year’s U.S. Small Business Administration Eastern Pennsylvania Family-Owned Small Business of the Year Award.

“I grew up working here from the time I was 8 years old,” said McCracken, the owner and president of Pine Creek Seed Farm, 204 Tiadaghton Ave. in Pine Creek Township, Clinton County.

He recalled those childhood memories growing up in a little green house and farming the land nearby and those of his great grandfather, Taylor A. Doebler Sr. who bought the house in 1931, where he and his great grandmother planted tomatoes. Doebler met with another farmer who needed help selling corn seed.

“He’d load up the back of a Model A to peddle corn seed to Northern Tier counties and south to Lancaster,” McCracken said of his great grandfather’s exploits in 1932.

During the award ceremony Monday McCracken introduced the many guests gathered in the Pine Creek Seed Farm warehouse to his wife, Jennifer, and the rest of the McCracken family (including son’s Crae and Cody, who are the fifth-generation workers.

The whole extended family and employee base stood up and were recognized as they received applause with proud moms and dads holding children and infants in their arms.

“I see both our sons, granddaughter, twin grandsons and newest grandson arriving in December in line for subsequent generations to continue this venture, which would not have been possible without the Small Business Administration financing, and counseling from SCORE and Penn State Small Business Development Center’s Agriculture Center for Excellence,” he said.

Over the years, the business has changed and evolved into what it is today, a company that sells a large variety of cover crops, forage, turf and wildlife and native seeds to wholesalers and farmers.

McCracken touched a bit on the decades of changes, which are listed in literature the company provided. By the 1940s and 1950s, the business concentrated on seed corn, with a hybrid version that was developed with assistance from experts at Penn State University.

“That’s really what the business was formed under,” McCracken said.

In short, the business, he acknowledged, changed hands and names before the third generation split it. Over time, these two businesses were sold to corporate seed companies and the brands faded out, until McCracken, re-purchased the operation in 2020, with a goal to become a full-service wholesaler and distributor of a large variety of agricultural seeds, turf seeds, cover crop seeds and wildlife seeds.

Memories of what his great grandfather founded and what he and the employees accomplished were shared in the warehouse. “As a fourth-generation seedsman in this family business, I am grateful that we were able to purchase the entire facility and build this ag business from scratch, just as my great grandfather did.”

What’s next for Pine Creek Seed Farm will be what was described as an ambitious expansion to coating a variety of seeds, adding value to the products. Coating can make seeds more drought -and- disease-resistant, creating more efficient planting for ag producers and growers.

Today, the “ReGenAg” brand with Pine Creek Seed Farm is a brand of quality specified for this state and surrounding states.

Those who support small businesses to thrive and assist in innovation throughout the state lauded Chris’s business model.

“With keen insight into family dynamics and the business’s impact on the community, Chris has refocused (the business) to increase sales and profitability,” said Tim Keohane, co-nominator and director of the Penn State Small Business Development Center. Keohane, who attended the same high school and have known each other for over 30 years, said PCFS worked with the Penn State SBDC on financial analysis, business planning, and assumptions for acquisition and expansion.

In the fall of 2023, “Chris participated in the Collaborative Industry Partnership at Elizabethtown College. This program involved several senior international business class members researching overseas markets for future export of coated seeds,” Keohane said.

Each October, Pine Creek Seed Farm hosts one of the largest corn mazes in the state. It is fully accessible and donates portions of the yearly proceeds to charities in the region.

For example, two years ago, the business donated a silo rescue kit and provided a training area for fire company members. A year ago, after a tragic loss to a football player from Jersey Shore Area High School, the company donated toward the purchase of a Q collar for each varsity team member to protect them from traumatic brain injury.

At the award ceremony, state Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding, among the many guests, recognized the business for its plant genetics innovation and for a committed investment in the state agricultural industry.

“Chris is most deserving (of) this award and recognition,” said nominator Martin Brill, coordinator of the Ag Center of Excellence, Penn State SBDC. “Pine Creek Seed Farm exemplifies the best in small business values and the American entrepreneurial spirit. The company is committed to unexcelled customer service and value-added products for the long-term sustainability of this business.”

Also acknowledging Chris and the family was Steve Dixel, SBA Eastern Pennsylvania director. He noted how the owner leveraged the SBA (7a) loan program to form a business at the same facilities his family had three generations prior.

McCracken purchased back the family business and used the SBA capital line of credit for inventory. It’s grown from a startup to a profitable multi-million dollar business with 19 employees and growing and a plus-40% annual growth rate.

Federal, state and local dignitaries and their representatives were on hand to congratulate McCracken and Pine Creek Seed Farm on this accomplishment and present resolutions and proclamations, including one put on the Congressional Record by U.S. Rep. Glenn GT Thompson, R-Howard, chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture. Also sending congratulations were representatives for U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton; state Sen. Cris Dush, R-Brookville, state Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Loyalsock Township; state Rep. Stephanie Borowicz, R-McElhattan, and Gov. Josh Shapiro and the Pine Creek Township board of supervisors and the Clinton County commissioners.

Thompson hyped the benefits for small businesses to work with the Small Business Administration, saying how proud he was of the administration’s role and staff at the Small Business Development Centers scattered throughout the Congressional district.

“These are professionals that work with great resources,” Thompson said. “They are reaching out and want to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with small businesses.”

“I’m a big fan of agriculture families in Pennsylvania,” he said.

Redding observed the family’s commitment to running a business that focuses on plant genetics.

“We are grateful every day for the folks who are celebrating agriculture,” he said. “We are grateful for the partnership that has been formed over time that allows for townships in the state and our federal leaders to work with our local communities to make sure that agriculture is both here today and tomorrow.”

The award is selected annually from nominees across the 40 counties of eastern Pennsylvania.