USDA awarded ECI the contract to deliver the Web Equity Manager® system as the core component for their Farm Service Agency's Farm Business Plan system in September 2003. Below is the most recent news (July 2005) about the success of this history-making USDA implementation and the original press release from September 2003.
USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) Farm Business Plan Implementation (FBP) Team Scores High Honors In Washington DC...
Released: July 2005
The USDA’s Farm Service Agency “Farm Business Plan Implementation Team” was awarded the “Administrator Honor Award” in the category for “Improving Business Process Effectiveness” in a ceremony in Washington D.C. on June 22, 2005. The awards are the highest awards the USDA / FSA can bestow and they are given to the outstanding performers in the USDA agency each year.
"We learned about the award in an email from USDA Farm Service Agency Direct-Loan Chief, Mike Hinton," said ECI Chairman/CEO, Gary Kruse. "In the message Mike said, "We should all be very proud of what we have accomplished on this project and this award indicates that others, outside of USDA Farm Loan Programs, recognize the impact it has made on how we deliver our programs.”
The citation on the USDA agency award reads: "For outstanding team effort in the successful implementation of the USDA agency's Farm Business Plan, which aligns the USDA agency's business processes with agricultural lending standards resulting in improved credit services and financial counseling for USDA agency customers and business partners."
Hinton ended his message saying, “Again, congratulations to all of you for a job well done. It has been a pleasure and an honor for me to work with all of you on this USDA agency project.”
The USDA agency Administrator Honor Award is a show of internal recognition within the USDA agency for a job well done by the FBP Implementation Team. According to ECI FBP Implementation Lead, Kevin Britten, “Many on the USDA agency team I have spoken to also commented that ECI had a lot to do with their success and that we should be congratulated as well.”
The FBP implementation was one of the most successful initiatives in USDA agency history as a direct result of the exceptional working relationship ECI shared with the entire USDA agency group from October 2003 through October 2004.
According to Kruse, "It is that human element of the software business that we find the most gratifying here at ECI."
Below is the original press release about the Farm Service Agency choosing ECI's Web Equity Manager for the Farm Business Plan implementation.
USDA / FSA CHOOSES ECI's WEB EQUITY MANAGER® TO ANALYZE GUARANTEED AND DIRECT LOANS
Released: September 30, 2003
Implementation to impact the lenders and 100,000 producers using USDA Farm Service Agency loan programs
GLENWOOD, IA -- The United States Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency recently chose ECI's Web Equity Manager® software to replace FSA's legacy Farm and Home Plan (FHP) software.
Web Equity Manager® will be used to administer over $16 billion in loan volume spread across some 100,000 government program participants through the USDA Agency Service Centers assisting agricultural producers in over 3,000 counties across the country.
This landmark decision is part of a comprehensive e-government initiative to provide a standardized platform for facilitating better communication and information exchange between all government loan program participants and the financial institutions and community partners who assist their customers in receiving government program benefits.
"The USDA agency's ultimate goal with Web Equity Manager® is for multiple government agencies to securely operate within the same system as banks, farm credits, regulators and other key lending industry players to significantly reduce the time and expense associated with gathering, analyzing and exchanging program participant information," explained ECI Chairman/CEO, Gary Kruse.
One of the key goals for Web Equity Manager® in the USDA agency environment is to empower producers to complete their farm business plans on the Web and submit them electronically to the service center. This will allow service center employees enhanced capabilities for assisting producers in completing their business plans.
“We knew that we had to start running our financing programs like the rest of the financial analysis industry including standardizing our use of things like Farm Financial Standards Ratios, accrual analysis and the like” said Steve Rubin, USDA Farm Service Agency head of the Web-based FHP initiative. "Web Equity Manager® is not simply a replacement for the existing FHP, but a system that USDA and other government agencies can expand upon into the future."
According to Rubin, USDA agency FHP and Guaranteed Loan programs will be the beginning for the Web Equity Manager® standardized analysis and information management platform.
"The Web-based forms and processes in Web Equity Manager® will satisfy our long-term goals for sharing automated tools such as government loan programs with participants. This is a far-reaching initiative that goes way beyond the exchange of information between the producer, lenders and the USDA agency. Long term it could involve other entities like universities, agricultural consultants, accountants, and industry suppliers that have a direct affect on the successful processing of USDA agency program participant information.”
The USDA agency first started the process to seek out a solution provider to replace the current PC-based FHP system due in large part to conform to the Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA) which mandates all government agencies provide a process where business transactions and record keeping can be done electronically by program participants by October 2003.
Web Equity Manager® calculates a complete financial analysis on any loan type, from the simplest loan requests to the most complex agricultural and related small business credits utilizing the Farm Financial Standards Ratios and RMA Industry Comparisons. Credit bureau reports can be pulled from within the Web Equity Manager® system and lenders can include that information in their scoring and rating parameters. Web Equity Manager® also provides the Fair, Isaac LiquidCredit® analytic and decisioning service for small business lending, including the industry-leading Small Business Scoring ModelsSM (SBSSSM) functionality so lenders can quickly and confidently process loans up to $250,000 with little or no financial data.
Click on the link below (or call ECI) to schedule a live online demonstration of Web Equity Manager® financial analysis capabilities today.
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