NAMA Honors Clint Lewis, Zoetis, with 2015 Agribusiness Leader of the Year Award

The National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) has named Clint Lewis, Executive Vice President and President, U.S. Operations, Zoetis, as the 2015 Agribusiness Leader of the Year.

This award, which is NAMA’s highest honor, recognizes outstanding leadership in private, public or academic service and is conferred each year to a senior agribusiness executive who not only exemplifies excellence in agribusiness but has also made significant contributions to the industry. Now in its 15^th year, the award will be presented at the Opening General Session of the 2015 Agri-Marketing Conference, “Growing Greatness,” April 16, 2015, in Kansas City, Mo.

Zoetis is the world’s largest animal health company, established when Pfizer announced that its animal health business would become an independent company. Mr. Lewis helped launch the entity and now oversees the management of the livestock (cattle, pork, and poultry) and companion animal (small animal and equine) businesses in the United States and is also responsible for leading the global genetics business.

Mr. Lewis has helped to spearhead Zoetis’ ongoing commitment to support and help advance the veterinarian and livestock producer profession to continuously raise the bar on animal health. Through funding student scholarships, internships, research fellowships and professional continuing education workshops, Zoetis does more to support the veterinarian and producer profession in the U.S. than any other company.

One example of this is the innovative Commitment to Veterinarians platform—a far-reaching, multi-dimensional strategy to address challenges facing the veterinary profession and help ensure its vibrant future—which was launched in 2010 under Mr. Lewis’ leadership. Today, under the auspices of the Commitment to Veterinarians platform, Zoetis donates millions of dollars and countless hours to supporting the profession. The Zoetis Commitment to Veterinarians Facebook community now boasts 170,000 engaged users—the largest such online community of veterinarians, technicians and allied audiences in the country. In addition, Zoetis’ widely popular “Veterinarians on Call” series on YouTube, designed to educate consumers on the important role of vets through a reality-TV approach, boasts more than 4.4 million views and 3,600 subscribers. The series also has a substantial role in educating consumers who are increasingly curious about how their food is produced.

Mr. Lewis has been at the forefront of advancing diversity in the veterinary and animal health professions, specifically in educating the next generation of veterinarians. For six consecutive years, Zoetis has invited second- and third-year students of veterinary medicine to apply for the Zoetis Veterinary Student Scholarship Program. Since the launch of the scholarship program in the fall of 2010, more than $2.7 million in scholarship funding has been awarded to more than 1,100 exceptional veterinary students.

As a member of Zoetis’ Executive Committee and immediate past chair of the Board of Directors for the Animal Health Institute (AHI), Mr. Lewis has played a key role in helping to advance legislation to support both veterinarian and livestock producer groups and to ensure support for animal care. A member of AHI since 2007, Mr. Lewis previously served as AHI  chair for the 20011-2012 term. AHI is the trade association for the animal health industry in the U.S., advocating on various issues important to the industry, including efficient and effective regulatory and approval processes by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Prior to his current position, Mr. Lewis served as president, U.S. Operations in the Pfizer Animal Health organization. He joined Pfizer Animal Health in 2007 after nearly 20 years in Pfizer’s human health operations.

Paul Redhage Named 2015 NAMA Marketer of the Year

The National Agri-Marketing Association has announced Paul Redhage has been selected as the 2015 NAMA Marketer of the Year.

This recognition is the most prestigious honor awarded to an active member of the association and honors outstanding accomplishments in the field of agri-marketing. For more than 50 years NAMA has been encouraging and promoting excellence in the industry by recognizing outstanding professional accomplishments. The NAMA Marketer of the Year award will be presented during the Second General Session of the 2015 Agri-Marketing Conference, on Thursday, April 16, in Kansas City, Mo., and is sponsored by Agri Marketing magazine.

Until his retirement in January, 2015, Redhage served as Strategic Communications Manager for FMC Corporation.  FMC is a diversified chemical company serving agricultural, industrial and consumer markets around the world. He was a key contributor in making Authority® herbicide a leading brand in the soybean pre-emergent market and also helped elevate Authority as a “Top of Mind” brand in pre-emergents.

Redhage has distinguished himself amongst his peers throughout his career and has been recognized for his accomplishments. In 2012, he received the University of Missouri Ag Alumni Citation of Merit. He also received the NAMA Dilworth Award for Innovation in 2007/8, and was awarded NAMA Marketing Communicator of the Year in 2008/9.

Redhage’s professional experience includes crop protection products, animal health, livestock feeds, agricultural fertilizers and food manufacturing. Prior to joining FMC, he served as Communications Manager at BASF from 1990-2002, Senior Account Supervisor at Brighton Advertising from 1989-1990 and kicked-off his career as an Account Supervisor at Kenrick Advertising from 1985-1989.

Redhage has also been deeply involved and made significant contributions to the development of NAMA, especially during his year of service as National NAMA President in 2013. His outstanding campaign work with Capture LFR won Best of NAMA awards in 2012/13, and Authority was awarded Best of NAMA for ad campaigns in 2013.

For a number of years Redhage served as a senior judge for the prestigious Student NAMA Marketing Competition. He excelled in this role, in large part because of his passion for mentoring young professionals, but also because of his desire to “give back” to the industry he loves. He consistently received high marks from the students for his thorough consideration, his insightful questions and his fair criticism. This example demonstrates his exemplary character, contribution to the industry and passion for innovative marketing that sets him apart from his peers.

Don’t forget to nominate the cream of the crop – Agribusiness Leader of the Year and NAMA Marketer of the Year.  Check out a list of current and past winners for Agribusiness Leader of the Year and NAMA Marketer of the Year.

Winners of these prestigious awards will be honored at the 2015 Agri-Marketing Conference, April 15 – 17 in Kansas City, MO.  Celebrate the achievements and impressive careers of the very best in agriculture with NAMA.

Agribusiness Leader of the Year Application:

Please download the application in Adobe PDF format. Or fill out the online nomination form.

NAMA Marketer of the Year Application:

Please download the application in Adobe PDF format. Or fill out the NAMA Marketer of the Year online nomination form.

Submission deadline is January 16, 2015.

If you have any questions about these awards, please contact Jenny Pickett at (913) 491-6500 or [email protected].

Don’t forget to nominate the cream of the crop – Agribusiness Leader of the Year and NAMA Marketer of the Year.  Check out a list of current and past winners for Agribusiness Leader of the Year and NAMA Marketer of the Year.

Winners of these prestigious awards will be honored at the 2015 Agri-Marketing Conference, April 15 – 17 in Kansas City, MO.  Celebrate the achievements and impressive careers of the very best in agriculture with NAMA.

Agribusiness Leader of the Year Application:

Please download the application in Adobe PDF format here. Or fill out the online nomination short form here.

NAMA Marketer of the Year Application:

Please download the application in Adobe PDF format here. Or fill out the NAMA Marketer of the Year online nomination form here.

Submission deadline is January 16, 2015.

If you have any questions about these awards, please contact Jenny Pickett at (913) 491-6500 or [email protected].

NAMA is proud to present the 2014 Professional Development Award Winners!

Marketing Communications:

Ryan Parkin, Marketing Communications Manager, Beck’s Hybrids

Ryan Parkin is the marketing communications manager at Beck’s, a family-owned, retail seed company. With his leadership, encouragement, enthusiasm, and motivation, he has led an in-house marketing team to award-winning success. But most importantly, Ryan’s innovative ideas, excellent leadership, and knowledge of the seed industry have helped increase sales across Beck’s marketing area.

Not only is Ryan dedicated to being the most successful marketing communications manager, he’s committed to touching the lives of farmers throughout the country. In 2013, Beck’s launched the “Why I Farm” movement in an effort to honor the American farmer. Ryan’s vision went beyond caring about his role, but doing something bigger than all of us. Since the release of the movement, there have been nearly 16 million online impressions with more than one million page views on the “Why I Farm” website.

Each year, Ryan and his in-house team strive to develop sales materials and an advertising campaign that triggers an emotion, leaves a lasting impression, and generates discussion that ultimately helps to increase sales. In 2013, Beck’s won the Best of Show in Advertising at the Best of NAMA Awards in Kansas City, Mo., for their “Suspect of Success” campaign.

Ryan continues to be engaged in regional NAMA activities. He has helped host a regional meeting and attends meetings when management duties allow. When the Mid-America chapter started to become more active, Ryan encouraged his team members to get involved.

Product/Species Management:

Kelly Smith, Product Management Administrator, Kuhn North America, Inc.

Kelly has greatly added to her overall knowledge of Kuhn products and strategies by becoming more actively involved in the development of one of their key products, the SR 100 GII SpeedRake. She took it upon herself to be a driving force to setup the marketing activities for this product range, including working with marketing on a photo and video shoot for the machine, helping develop the features and benefits PowerPoints and sales booklets that are given out to dealers, as well as writing and delivering the product review video that is shared with customers and dealers through our website and YouTube channel.

Kelly has developed an extensive knowledge of price pack and machine price list creation. She is in charge of developing the Kuhn and Kuhn Knight price books, which include the features and benefits for all of the machines. One major area where Kelly is involved is the Kuhn North America Competitive Intelligence Monitor. This program was initiated last year and is a global initiative to collect information on competitive companies’ sales, developments and marketing activities in order for the company to be well-informed and make better decisions. This allows colleagues in other countries and factories to be more comfortable discussing and investigating opportunities and issues as they know Kelly personally.

Kelly is an active member of Badger NAMA serving as a Careers Co-Chair. In this role, she helps cultivate future agri-marketers as liaison for the University of Wisconsin – Platteville’s student (Pioneer) NAMA chapter. As a liaison for Pioneer NAMA, she offers her professional opinion on marketing plan drafts, serves as the contact between Badger NAMA and Pioneer NAMA, and encourages students to reach new heights with their marketing and career plans. In addition, she sets up meetings between both organizations and encourages student involvement with professional events and tours.

Public Relations:

Lisa Adams, Principal, Public Relations, Sage Virtual Communications

Throughout her career, Lisa Adams has become one of the most recognized and respected agricultural communications and public relations agency professionals in crop production. After more than 20 years of experience encompassing work within highly respected communications agencies such as Saatchi & Saatchi, AdFarm and Woodruff Sweitzer, Lisa took the ultimate leap and established Sage Virtual Communications, her own public relations entity, in September 2011.

 Leveraging her industry experience, vast network and numerous media relationships, Lisa has built Sage Virtual Communications to be the means by which she can concentrate her time and talent on the strategic as well as tactical needs of clients in a more focused, fast-paced approach that is unmatched by larger agencies. From collaborative crop e-newsletters with highly respected industry editors to forging partnerships with university experts and working with sales personnel to creatively extend their reach, Lisa observes no boundaries when building a successful communications plan.

Lisa’s tremendous work ethic and dedication to her clients’ success has flourished beneath her own entity.  Lisa took the opportunity to start her own business in order to truly dedicate her time and talents on directly impacting her clients’ short and long term business.

A MoKan NAMA Chapter member for years, Lisa’s most profound NAMA impact is through her volunteerism as a Student NAMA Marketing Competition Judge. At the 2012 competition, Lisa served as a semi-finals judge and the year prior as a preliminary round judge, graciously giving of her time, talents and expertise to guide the next generation of agricultural marketers. After her very first judging experience, Lisa expressed that she was “hooked” by the students’ passion, energy and enthusiasm and couldn’t wait to judge again. As a role model for those who think outside the box, Lisa’s own passion for agriculture and agriculture communications shines through to the students while her fair and honest critiques provide valuable insights on areas for improvement toward next year’s competition. As a professional member, being involved in the student competition is one of the greatest, most unselfish contributions one can make toward the future of NAMA, and Lisa benevolently does so year after year.

Sales:

Gary Vorpahl, Director of Marketing, Hoard’s Dairyman

Gary was hired by W. D. Hoard & Sons Company in 1984 and currently serves as the Vice President of Marketing for Hoard’s Dairyman. Gary’s responsibilities encompass managing a national sales staff, internal market research, publication marketing, and income enhancements. During his tenure, Gary has worked tirelessly to change or help implement change not only at Hoard’s but overall in the world of ag BTB publications.

Here is a sampling of his career achievements; the creation of Hoard’s exclusive-content webinars starting in 2011 and Hoard’s Dairyman Intel starting  in 2013. He provided guidance in the launch of Hoard’s website in 1996 and re-launched with additional staff in 2009 and helped facilitate building the welcome center as part of the new Hoard’s Dairyman parlor/barn facility built in 2007. Gary has been working to make the annual Hoard’s Dairyman Marketing Study the most complete producer survey available to the dairy industry. And working with agencies to develop Hoard’s Dairyman annual Agri-Marketing Cow Judging Contest that has garnered much recognition (wins and merits) at both Regional and National Best of NAMA.

Gary’s enthusiasm for agriculture has led to his involvement and leadership in many industry organizations. He is a key player in the Wisconsin Agri-Business Council, a group comprised of agri-business people and farmers who look out for the interests of agriculture in the state legislature and the public. Since 1984, Gary has been a vital cog in the organization, serving as president for most of his time on the board. He is also past chairman of the American Business Media-Agri Council, which represents the leading agricultural magazine titles in the U.S. and Canada.

Gary has been an active NAMA member since 1974 and has served in a wide array of positions on the chapter, regional and national level including nearly twenty years of service as a chapter officer. He likely holds the chapter record for events attended, and rarely passes up the opportunity to sponsor an event when asked. Perhaps his greatest achievement in all those years of service in NAMA has been in the role of mentor to hundreds of younger members and being an inspiration for anyone looking to succeed in agricultural communications or sales.

NAMA is pleased to announce  Sonny Beck, president, Beck’s Hybrids, as the 2014 Agribusiness Leader of the Year. This award, which is NAMA’s highest honor, will be presented at the Opening General Session of the 2014 Agri-Marketing Conference, “A Fresh Perspective,” April 10, 2014, in Jacksonville, Florida. The award honors outstanding leaders in agribusiness, education, government service or other agribusiness related areas who exemplify excellence in agribusiness by their significant contributions to the industry.

Sonny Beck, president of Beck’s Hybrids, has led the company to unprecedented growth. As the largest family-owned seed company in the United States, Beck’s Hybrids is now the sixth largest seed company in the U.S. Under Sonny’s leadership, Beck’s Hybrids has experienced a 20 percent increase in sales each year for the last 20 years, doubling in size every four years.

As soon as Beck joined the family operation in 1964, after graduating from Purdue University, he never let grass grow under his feet. Always aiming at building closer, stronger relationships with customers, Beck immediately launched a couple of customer events that are now long-standing traditions.

It was in that same year, Beck started what is now called the Practical Farm Research (PFR)® program. Still today, the PFR program is unlike any other in the seed industry. Focused on farmer’s needs, hundreds of studies are completed at five Beck’s locations in an effort to look at how different management practices perform in different environments. The information is delivered to farmers across the Midwest in a 280-page summary book, website and field shows.

Beck has frequently stated that before 1992 Beck’s Hybrids was a seed producer who happened to do some marketing, but with the arrival of traits, Beck’s became a marketing company who happened to produce most of their own seed.

But it was not just traits that Beck and the Beck’s Hybrids team pursued. In 2001, Beck’s Hybrids was the first to market 100 percent of its seed corn with a seed-applied insect control system called FaSTart®. Over time the seed treatment evolved and in 2009 Beck’s Hybrids became the first seed company to put together a unique set of yield-enhancing products called Escalate® yield enhancement system. Escalate comes standard on all Beck’s corn, soybean, wheat and alfalfa products.

Beck’s dedication and passion for agriculture extends far beyond Beck’s Hybrids. He has played an integral role in leading several agricultural organizations, providing each with a unique leadership approach, ultimately guiding them to newer heights.

NAMA is pleased to announce that Jeff Hartz, director of marketing, Wyffels Hybrids, has been named the 2014 NAMA Marketer of the Year. The NAMA Marketer award will be presented during the Second General Session of the 2014 Agri-Marketing Conference, “A Fresh Perspective” on Thursday, April 10 at 11:00 a.m. in Jacksonville, Florida and is sponsored by Agri Marketing magazine.

Jeff Hartz spent his first 6 to 12 months at Wyffels Hybrids just listening. He asked a lot of questions and attended a lot of meetings. He talked to employees, seed reps and customers…and even competitors. Through this intense discovery period, he defined what Wyffels stood for, how they are different than competitors, what the marketing team needed to focus its efforts on and new, strategic growth strategies.

Hartz has been instrumental in improving customer retention year over year. Each year his goal is to meet or exceed 60% of new customers’ business in year two. As of today, Wyffels Hybrids has reached 67% retention rate of new customers and 78% continued customer retention, the highest in the business along with one of the industry leaders, according to market research.

Hartz understood that Wyffels Hybrids is a challenger brand in a cluttered and confusing market. He took what he already knew through his years of experience about challenger brands and applied that knowledge, along with market research, to Wyffels. He also considered what he found to be true about the company’s products and people through his discovery process. Then, he built a branding document around that knowledge and insight that company leaders and all employees now use to help guide nearly every decision they make.

As the marketing director, Hartz oversees all strategic marketing efforts including advertising and public relations and the development of the Wyffels brand. He works closely with growers, the sales force and the National Sales Director to develop programs and materials that meet their needs and reinforce Wyffels’ position as one of the leading independent seed corn companies in the industry. His role is constantly evolving as a member of the leadership team.

Hartz became active on a national scale with NAMA when he joined the Careers Committee in 2008 and provided value to that committee for three years, motivating future members of the ag marketing industry. He also encouraged one of his team members to join the committee, securing a continued commitment from Wyffels Hybrids.

His work as vice chair, then chair of the Best of NAMA Committee in 2012 ensured members received recognition for the outstanding work accomplished. He also served as a national awards judge in 2010 and 2014. As a former advertising creative copywriter, Hartz has always had an eye for excellence in marketing communications efforts and thrives on applauding the creative efforts of his peers, realizing that some of the best work in today’s marketplace is coming from those in agriculture.