Jed Welder

Board Chairman

Jed grew up on a small farm in West Michigan. He enlisted in the Marine Corp Reserve at the age of 17 and led an infantry fire team during a NATO deployment to the Arctic Circle as a Marine Corporal. He attended Central Michigan University on an Army ROTC scholarship and received a commission as a Regular Army officer in 1992. Jed is a graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger School and served as a tank platoon leader with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in the Mojave Desert of California. After promotion to Captain he was privileged to Command Lighting Troop of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Fort Carson Colorado. He was deployed to Bosnia to assist with the peacekeeping mission following the civil war in that country and assisted with resettlement of refugees across a wide and diverse area on the Bosnian/Serbian border. During his deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, Jed felt the desire to begin to build instead of watching the destruction that had become a common occurrence in those areas of the world.

After military service, Jed continues to serve his community by remaining active in several organizations. He and his family are active in Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Grand Rapids. Within the Veteran community he is a life member of his local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Chapter, Post 5065 in Sheridan Michigan. Jed is proud to serve on the inaugural Board of Directors of the Michigan Chapter of the Farmer Veteran Coalition and as a member of the Montcalm county Conservation District Board. In 2016 he was elected as a trustee of his local township. Jed now runs a family farm and considers his most meaningful achievement to be creating a farm that his children can be involved in as they grow up.