Matt Wolters, 2003 graduate in agricultural economics, was selected as one of five Leaders of the Year for 2015 by the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development. Efforts in outreach, innovation and service leadership determine the recipient for each of the five categories: agribusiness, business and entrepreneurship, community service, multicultural diversity and tourism, hospitality and retail.
Wolters’ recognition came in agribusiness based on his role in leading SureFire Ag Systems Inc., a company that designs and manufactures solutions to apply fertilizer and chemicals to crops and fields throughout Kansas, the U.S. and the world. Based outside of Atwood, Kansas, Wolters, his brother, Josh, and friend, Blaine Ginther, opened Surefire Ag in July 2007.
Almost eight years later, the business has developed many custom products including Quickdraw, which is anticipated as one of the top five game changers of 2015 by Farm Industry News. Quickdraw is an automated, electronically controlled spray tender system that mixes batches of crop inputs. SureFire has seen great success, employs 35 people, and has sold its products in 47 states and Canada.
In addition to SureFire Ag Systems, Wolters and his partners founded the Dream Big Education Foundation, which provides resources to enhance science, technology, engineering, agriculture, and math education in the Rawlins County USD 105.
Leaders of the Year were chosen by entrepreneurship students in the K-State College of Business and are based on the Huck Boyd Institute’s Kansas Profile features during the past year. The institute is a partnership between K-State Research and Extension in Manhattan and the Huck Boyd Foundation in Phillipsburg, Kansas.
Wolters is a 2014 Distinguished Young Alumni and recipient of the Vance Publishing 2014 40 Under 40 Award. He was in Blue Key Honor Society and Student Governing Association and was an Agriculture Ambassador during college. Wolters has key roles in the Kansas FFA Foundation, Rawlins County Hospital Board and the Kansas Agricultural Rural Leadership Program.
Congratulations Matt, well deserved! You have always been an innovator!