Finding and Keeping People When the Whole County Is Hiring
Chris Sund runs three companies from Fremont, Nebraska. He speaks to agriculture audiences about the workforce problem every operation, co-op, and ag business is living — a shrinking rural labor pool, a next generation deciding whether to stay, and competition from employers who never used to be competition.
What Your Members Take Back
Ag audiences have heard plenty of keynotes about resilience delivered by people who have never worked a season. Chris does not do that. He talks about workforce — hiring in towns where the labor pool is fifty people, keeping a good hand who just got an offer from the plant, and whether the next generation sees a future worth staying for.
- Recruiting in a rural market where everyone is fishing the same pond
- Why good people leave an operation, and what an owner actually controls
- Bringing the next generation in without handing them a job they did not earn
- Competing with employers who can pay more and offer indoor work
- Original research: 92% believe they are capable of more than they are doing now
Popular Programs for Ag Audiences
Every session is customized to your members, region, and format.
People Quit People, Not Companies
Retention for operations where every person is a large share of the crew.
You Are Capable of More
The signature keynote — strong fit for a convention general session or banquet.
Rural Workforce Strategy
The rural talent material Chris delivers to healthcare, adapted for ag.
Agriculture Audiences Chris Serves
Related pages: Rural Workforce Speaker · Association Conference Speaker · Chamber of Commerce Speaker · Skilled Trades & Blue-Collar Speaker · How to Recruit and Keep Skilled Workers · Employee Retention Speaker · Sales Keynote for Dealers & Co-op Sales Teams · Take Back Your Time with AI · AI for Ag & Equipment Dealers · Succession: The Next Generation
What Ag Planners Ask
Does he come from agriculture?
He is not a producer and will not claim to be. He runs businesses in eastern Nebraska and works with rural employers constantly — and he speaks about workforce, which is the part he knows, rather than about farming, which he does not.
Will it feel like an outsider talking down to the room?
No. Chris lives in Fremont, and the rural workforce problem is the same one his industry deals with in every small town it staffs. The room usually recognizes that in the first few minutes.
Convention keynote or banquet talk?
Both, and they are different. A general session goes deeper on workforce strategy; a banquet talk is shorter and built for a room with families in it.
Can he speak to a young farmer or rancher group?
Yes, and that is one of the better fits. The material on potential, staying, and building something lands well with people deciding whether to come back to the operation.
Where Chris Has Spoken to Rural and Association Audiences
Conferences, associations, and organizations across rural America.
You Are Capable of More
The bestselling book behind the keynotes — ten principles for closing the gap between what people are doing and what they are actually capable of.
Conventions and co-op annual meetings often pair a keynote with copies for members. Bulk pricing and signed editions are available.
He Built It From Nebraska
Chris is President & COO of Uniti Med, GQR Healthcare and Nebula, and he did it from Fremont rather than a coast. That matters to an ag audience: the growth story he tells was built in the same labor market your members hire in.
He took Uniti Med from startup to one of the largest healthcare staffing firms in the country — 10x revenue growth, #3 fastest-growing in the Midwest on the Inc. Regionals, and a Fortune Best Workplaces award — and staffs rural facilities across the country, which is how he knows the small-town hiring problem firsthand.
He is a bestselling author, a Maxwell Leadership Certified coach, an Inc. contributor, and a Forbes Business Council member.
As Seen & Heard
Television, national business press, and the podcasts where Chris talks workforce, growth, and rural hiring.
Bring Chris to Your Ag Event
Tell Chris about your members and the region. You’ll get a fast, straight answer on fit and availability.
Check Availability & FeesResponse within one business day · Speaker kit, bio & headshots