Top Farmer Conference: January 10, 2025

As one of the most successful and longest-running management programs specifically crafted for farmers, the Purdue Top Farmer Conference is a one-day event for agricultural producers and agribusiness professionals looking to navigate the complexities of today's agricultural landscape. Participants will have the opportunity to network with peers and hear from farm management experts and agricultural economists from Purdue, Farm Credit Services of America, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Acres, a land value data analytics company.

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Maria Marshall

Professor, Jim & Lois Ackerman Endowed Chair, Department of Agricultural Economics; Director, North Central Regional Center for Rural Development; and Director, Purdue Institute for Family Business, Purdue University

Bio

Professor Maria Marshall conducts an applied research, teaching, and Extension program in small and family business management, disaster recovery, and entrepreneurship. Dr. Marshall is the Director of the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD). She is also the director and founder of the Purdue Institute for Family Business (PIFB).

Her research and Extension programs focuses on small business development and family business management. Her small and family business research is focused on areas such as the resource exchange between the household and the business, family business management, and disaster recovery. She is particularly focused on the resource exchange between household and business when each system experiences a normative and non-normative shock. Dr. Marshall’s outreach and teaching programs seek to increase economic development through entrepreneurship and firm growth. She received her M.A. from the University of Missouri, Kansas City and her Ph.D. in agricultural economics from Kansas State University.

EXTENSION PUBLICATIONS

Understanding Generational Differences Within A Family Business

Farm Retirement & Succession Preparedness

Human Resource Risk Management & Contingency Planning

RECENT PRESENTATIONS

SELECTED RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS

Marshall, M. I., & Schrank, H. (2020). Sink or Swim? Impacts of Management Strategies on Small Business Survival and Recovery. Sustainability. View Publication

Wiatt, R., Lee, Y., Marshall, M. I., & Zuiker, V. (2020). The Effect of Cash Flow Problems and Resource Intermingling on Business Recovery and Resilience after a Natural Disaster. Journal of Family and Economic Issues. View Publication

Carriere, D. E., Marshall, M. I., & Binkley, J. K. (2019). Response to Economic Shock: Impacts of Recession on Rural-Urban Suicides in the United States. Journal of Rural Health, 35(2), pp. 253-261. View Publication

Li, W., & Marshall, M. I. (2019). Gender and Business Owner Satisfaction: The Case of Farm and Non-Farm Family Businesses in the Midwest. Journal of Family Busines Management , 9(4), pp. 416-428. View Publication

Torres Bravo, A. P., Marshall, M. I., & Sydnor, S. B. (2019). Does Social Capital Pay Off? The Case of Small Business Resilience After Hurricane Katrina. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 27(2), pp. 168-181. View Publication

McDonald, T. M., & Marshall, M. I. (2018). Family Business Responses to Household and Business Cash-Flow Problems. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 39(1), pp. 163-176. View Publication

Hiramatsu, T., & Marshall, M. I. (2018). The Long-Term Impact of Disaster Loans: The Case of Small Businesses after Hurricane Katrina. Sustainability, 10(7), p. 2364.

Sydnor, S. B., Niehm, L., Lee, Y., Marshall, M. I., & Schrank, H. (2017). Analysis of post-disaster damage and disruptive impacts on the operating status of small businesses after Hurricane Katrina. NATURAL HAZARDS, 85(3), pp. 1637-1663. View Publication

Josephson, A. L., & Marshall, M. I. (2016). The Demand for Post-Katrina Disaster Aid: SBA Disaster Loans and Small Businesses in Mississippi. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 24(4), pp. 267-274. View Publication

Marshall, M., & Schrank, H. (2014). Small Business Disaster Recovery-A Research Framework. Natural Hazards, 72(2), pp. 597-616.

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