2025 Impact Awards: Alison Sklarczyk

ALISON SKLARCZYK

CFO, Sklarczyk Seed Farm

Hometown: Johannesburg, Michigan

Unlike many of her contemporaries, Alison Sklarczyk had no intention of going into the family potato business.

Sklarczyk graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in animal sciences. She married her husband, Ben, a third-generation potato grower, in 2005 and worked briefly at his family’s seed farm before finding a job as a veterinary assistant.

“After three years at the local veterinary clinic, I felt a very strong pull to work alongside Ben. I’ve been here for 16 years now,” Sklarczyk said.

She has worn many hats during that time. She’s been Sklarczyk Seed Farm’s tissue culture lab manager and overseen human resources while serving as a National Potato Council delegate, on the Potatoes USA communications committee and on the board of the regional Farm Service Agency.

In 2019, Sklarczyk was named the Michigan Department of Agricultural and Rural Development Ag Exporter of the Year as well as Spudman magazine’s Spudwoman of the Year. Sklarczyk said she shared the award with her late mother-in-law, Mary Kay Sklarczyk, who started the farm’s tissue lab and managed it until dying of cancer at age 56 in 2011.

“Not a day goes by that we don’t think about her and the way she positively impacted the potato industry,” Alison Sklarczyk said.

Sklarczyk’s career was also influenced by her maternal grandparents, who were hard-working farmers, and her paternal grandfather, a teacher and world travel. 

“They modeled the best of two very different lifestyles to shape me into who I am today,” she said.

It’s advice from another family member, though, that rings in Sklarczyk’s head when she needs motivation.

“If I’ve had a long, hard day, I can hear the wise words of my older sister, Sara, telling me to go wash my face and go to bed,” Sklarczyk said. “Tomorrow is a fresh start.”