John has been a lead consultant with LattaHarris, LLP, since 2001. He brings a wide range of skills and expertise to families and firms engaged in farming and agribusiness. With an extensive background in managerial accounting and benchmarking, John specializes in family business management development and transition, entity planning and organizational design, management information systems, and applies this with agricultural families as he helps them develop and grow their businesses. He is sought after for his skills in supporting entrepreneurship and for developing and enhancing existing business.
John holds degrees from Iowa State University in Agricultural Business and Economics and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Iowa. He was the first recipient of the Brian Davidson Fellowship from Harvard Business School; he holds a Certificate from the Family Firm Institute and is a graduate of TEPAP.
John is a former director of the Agricultural Consulting Exchange, a past President of the National Pork Producer Council, a current member of Family Firm Institute, Boston, MA and the Principal member of familybusiness.ag.
familybusiness.ag is an invitation-only peer group of internationally recognized experts with over 250 years of combined experience in consulting with agricultural family businesses. Our association is based on mutual respect and knowledge about each other’s approach and delivery, where meeting a client’s goals, not product sales, drives the process. The group comes together to share experience, knowledge and best practices.
John is the owner of Brick Arch Winery and Event Center, West Branch, IA (2003-present) and owned and operated Elmira Farms, Inc. (1974-2000).