General | August 14

DEKALB, Ill. -- Brothers Country Supply has partnered with NIU Athletics and Van Wagner to become the official food supplier of Mission, NIU's live Huskie mascot. 

As part of this multi-year partnership, the Brothers Country Supply logo will appear on Mission's vest as well as on a patch on Victor E. Huskie's jersey. Both NIU mascots will appear in co-branded social media content and will make in-store appearances for Brothers Country Supply. 

Mission will be supplied with Open Farm dog food from Brothers Country Supply during each year of the strategic partnership.

"Everyone here at Brothers Country Supply is excited about this great partnership with NIU Athletics," said Brothers Country co-owner David Bankowski. "My brother John and I look forward to supporting all NIU Athletics and we are going to have a ton of fun with Mission and Victor E. Mission is already enjoying all his new Open Farm dog food and treats we hooked him up with."

A 100 percent family-owned company, Brothers Country Supply features over 12,000 products just for all animals, providing pet food and supplies for all types of animals, from dogs to cats, horse feed to pigs, chickens to wild birds, reptiles to guinea pigs, and so much more. Brothers Country has five locations in the region, located in DeKalb, Morris, Oswego, Ottawa and Plano.

NIU's current live mascot, Mission III, is a Siberian Huskie who was introduced to the NIU Community in January of 2023. Follow Mission on social media via Facebook (@MissionHuskie), X (@NIUMission) and Instagram (@niu_mission) and follow Victor E. Huskie on X (@NIU_VictorE) and Instagram (@victorehuskie).