MSI Futures
is a full service commodity brokerage firm specializing in agricultural risk management and marketing strategies. We are located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the heart of agricultural production and processing.
MSI’s main objective is to help clients spread, transfer, and limit risk from the cash markets and transfer it to the futures and options markets. We have extensive experience with a broad range of clients, ranging from phases in early production to the retail stages of a commodity.
MSI brokers have a strong commitment to communicating directly with clients on a regular basis to achieve specific risk management goals.
MAIN LOCATION
MSI Futures
1011 Longfellow Drive, Suite B
Hiawatha, IA 52233
OUR PEOPLE
Jim Nemitz
was born and raised on a grain and livestock farm in western Iowa. Jim graduated in 1987 from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa with degrees in Ag Education and Economics. Following graduation he accepted a position as a registered commodity broker/marketing advisor with a commodity firm in Des Moines, Iowa. In 2000, Jim founded Midwest Strategic Investments. He farms vicariously on his acreage in Toddville, Iowa, with his wife and three kids, and he can usually be found in his shop out back. He is a loyal follower of the Iowa State Cyclones and is trying to learn to appreciate the Hawkeyes.
Emalee Nemitz
manages the office, tries to satisfy compliance and is the lucky recipient of the daily margin call list. She is accustomed to her calls being ignored, as she is also the mother of three teenagers. She is happiest when she is hanging out with her children at their sporting and school events. She lives in Toddville with Jim and has acquired a University Of Life degree of weed management while fighting various species on their acreage in Toddville. She has a degree in Public Relations from Iowa State University and is a fellow follower of all things Cyclones.
Travis Luke
was born and raised on a cow/calf, row crop operation in south central Nebraska. Travis graduated from The University of Nebraska in 1995 with a B.S. in AgBusiness and Associates degree in Accounting. Travis spent the first 22 years of his career in the animal nutrition industry which is where he developed the desire to help producers manage their risk in the cash markets. Travis owns a nonGmo/organic grain company called Wholesome Grain Solutions and resides in the Syracuse, Indiana area with his wife and two kids.
Gunnar Ortgiesen
began his career as an auditor for a large public accounting firm. He worked on multiple grain engagements and decided once he started having children with his wife he wanted to settle into an ag-related field. He now has three children with his wife and is President/CFO of Tettens Grain Inc. To accomodate the growth of the grain elevator business and in response to customer requests for more trading tools, he has obtained his commodity license and joined forces with MSI. When Gunnar isn’t working or chasing three children around, you can find him out in the woods hunting or fishing in his boat.
Rebecca Lafferty
began as a commodities broker with MSI in 2007 and has since expanded her business to specialize in designing and implementing risk programs for livestock and grain producers. She works with producers to optimize their business, including documenting cash sales and futures and options tracking. Rebecca enjoys meeting her clients’ needs and working closely with them to manage efficiencies, reduce costs and increase their revenues. She lives with her husband, Rod, on a farm near Elkton, South Dakota, where there can be found several rescued horses, a couple of dogs, and a large garden. When she isn’t marketing, you can find her out in the shop under a welding mask or upcycling an a old piece of furniture into something modern and beautiful .They have two grown daughters.