In December 2023, AURI celebrated Louise Eischens, project and technical administrative coordinator, on her retirement after 31 years of service to AURI. Eischens worked in AURI’s office in Marshall, Minnesota, providing kind, caring and professional service to the organization.
Eischens grew up on a small farm near St. Leo, Minnesota, allowing her to be involved in agriculture from a young age. She completed the Minnesota Farmers Union Youth Program, where she attended summer camp and joined its summer staff. Upon high school graduation, Eischens pursued the General/Agricultural Secretary program at Minnesota West Community and Technical College in Granite Falls, Minnesota. Her first industry job was as a Program Assistant for the United States Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency in Yellow Medicine County. From there, Eischens worked as a Secretary at the Southwest/West Central Service Cooperative in Marshall.
In June 1992, Eischens joined AURI as an Administrative Assistant. Throughout her career at AURI, Eischens provided administrative support to the Innovation and Commercialization teams, as well as to the Science and Technology teams. She also helped manage AURI’s Marshall office, with most of her work occurring behind the scenes, adhering to internal processes and procedures, providing top-notch customer service, coordinating meetings and logistics and working with staff, vendors and accounts payable.
Eischens has enjoyed seeing the organization grow over the years, expanding its footprint across the state of Minnesota and instituting the Meat Laboratory and the Food Product Evaluation and Sensory Laboratory in Marshall. She also has seen AURI develop two logos, create Focus Areas, update its mission and vision statements, as well as secure several external funding opportunities and patents.
While at AURI, Eischens appreciated attending annual staff meetings and working with colleagues who are passionate about value-added agriculture and AURI’s mission. She marvels at the progression of technology since her early days at AURI, as well as the addition of AURI programming, such as the Minnesota Renewable Energy Roundtable, Industry Thought Leaders, AURI Connects and the Ag Innovation Center.
In retirement, Eischens says she plans to spend more time with family and friends and travel to many new places.
“I will miss the camaraderie of the staff and seeing what projects are being worked on,” Eischens says. “It’s exciting to see what new products will appear in the marketplace, and I look forward to staying in the loop through Ag Innovation News. Thank you for letting me be part of this great organization.”
