AN EXPERIMENTAL ACTION AND RESEARCH PROJECT WAS CONDUCTED DURING 1960-64 BY THE IOWA AGRICULTURAL AND HOME ECONOMICS EXPERIMENT STATION, IN COOPERATION WITH THE TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY, TO DETERMINE THE INFLUENCE OF AN INTENSIVE TRAINING PROGRAM FOR GENERAL MANAGERS OF LOCAL RETAIL FARM SUPPLY RETAIL BUSINESSES DEALING IN FERTILIZER AND AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS. CHANGES IN KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, AND PERFORMANCE, INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT AND ACTIVITIES OF BUSINESS FIRMS, AND ECONOMIC RETURNS OF THE TOTAL BUSINESS AND OF THE FERTILIZER AND CHEMICALS DEPARTMENTS WERE ASSESSED. EIGHT TREATMENT, TWO ALTERNATE TREATMENT, AND EIGHT CONTROL GROUPS WERE USED. ECONOMIC DATA WERE GATHERED FROM BUSINESS RECORDS, AND OTHER DATA WERE OBTAINED IN PERSONAL INTERVIEWS. FIVE VARIABLES OF KNOWLEDGE, TWO RELATING TO ATTITUDES, 13 RELATING TO PERFORMANCE, FOUR PERTAINING TO THE BUSINESS FIRM AND TO GENERAL MANAGEMENT, AND 14 IN THE AREA OF ECONOMIC RETURNS FAVORED THE TREATMENT GROUP (PARTICIPANTS IN A FIVE-DAY WORKSHOP FOLLOWED BY 16 MEETINGS OVER TWO AND A HALF YEARS), TOGETHER WITH 11 STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT VARIABLES. EVEN CONSIDERING LIMITATIONS OF SAMPLE SIZE AND LENGTH OF TRAINING, THE TRAINING PROGRAM WAS JUDGED SUCCESSFUL. THE DOCUMENT INCLUDES FIVE TABLES AND A SUMMARY CHART OF TRAINING ACTIVITIES. (LY)