Make the most of your membership by taking a committee role at the chapter level. Gain hands-on leadership experience that will benefit you in your professional and personal life.

Chapter leaders are currently recruiting committee members. If you are interested in becoming a member of a chapter committee contact your chapter president. A list of chapter president’s can be found at http://www.nama.org/chapters/chapters-index.html.

Note: Chapter President’s, if you have your leaders selected for the upcoming 2007-2008 program year, please submit them to Linda Schaefer at the NAMA office at [email protected].

Calendar Reminder: Chapter leaders, mark your calendars for the Regional Leader Workshops:

Region II Workshop – TBD

Region IV – May 31

Region III – June 21

The recipients for the Agribusiness Leader and NAMA Marketer of the Year awards were honored during the 2007 Agri-Marketing Conference.

Agribusiness Leader of the Year
Dale R. Ludwig, executive director/CEO of the Missouri Soybean Association and the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council, was presented with the Agribusiness Leader of the Year Award, NAMA’s highest honor, at the Opening General Session of the 2007 Agri-Marketing Conference in Dallas on April 12.

This award honors an outstanding leader in agribusiness, education, government service or other related areas.

Ludwig is a visionary leader with a proven record of building coalitions to improve Missouri agriculture. He helped forge producer/agribusiness partnerships that have positioned Missouri as a leader in biodiesel production. In addition, he pioneered the effort to identify new traits in soybeans through biotechnology and helped re-position the U.S. soybean commodity with competitive advantages over global competitors.

A known and trusted individual among the Missouri congressional delegation, Ludwig helped convince Congress to pass the biodiesel tax credit, a federal incentive driving biodiesel’s growth. Ludwig’s ability to work toward solutions for soybean producers distinguishes him as one of the true champions of the biodiesel effort. Ludwig’s relentless support for biotechnology led to the cooperation between USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and private institutions to create a new paradigm of synergy in the plant-based biotechnology arena.

NAMA Marketer of the Year
Phil Johnson, Chief Operating Officer at Colle+McVoy, was presented with the NAMA Marketer of the Year Award during the Second General Session at the 2007 Agri-Marketing Conference on April 12 in Dallas.

This award is the most prestigious honor awarded to an active member of the association and honors outstanding accomplishments in the field of agri-marketing. Nominees are solicited from agribusiness and related companies with overall marketing and/or sales responsibilities.

Phil Johnson has become an expert at taking the status quo and making it better. Whether he’s revitalizing a stagnant brand, reorganizing a business group or providing a struggling subsidiary with the resources needed to gain the confidence to succeed, Johnson is a vital part of maximizing nearly every challenge he encounters, to the benefit of his clients, his company and those who work around him. Johnson’s philosophy is simple. He uses a straight-forward equation to get the results that put his clients at the forefront of the agricultural industry: Relationships + Rigor = Results. Utilizing this equation to dig into a customer’s business and understand it from the ground up takes a huge amount of work and commitment, and is the key to successfully acquiring and keeping clients.

As a principal at Colle+McVoy for 20 years, Johnson has provided the leadership and encouragement needed to offer exceptional client service and innovative marketing solutions. Celebrating his 20th anniversary as a member and leader of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA), Johnson has served as a director and president of the North Central Chapter and chaired awards program committees from the Midlands and North Central chapters. He successfully chaired the NAMA Issues Forum committee in September, 1998, and received the Outstanding Chair award in 1999 for his leadership.

For more information on these awards and the winners visit, http://www.nama.org/awards/awards-index.html.

NAMA named the organization’s national leadership award recipients during the Second General Session on April 12.

The President’s Award was given to Tom Taylor, High Plains Journal; Mike Gustafson, John Deere received the R.C. Ferguson Award; The Workhorse of the Year Award was given to Sharon Larson, Martin/Williams; Barry Nelson, John Deere, received the Outstanding Chair Award; Scott Whitman, AgriLife Studios/MWI Comm. Group, took home the Dilworth Award for Innovation; and four meritorious achievement awards were given to Colleen Gerke, John Deere, Melissa Sanders, AdFarm, Kelly Loganbill, AdFarm and Dawn Foster, Farm Credit Services of America.

NAMA would like to welcome Joy Watson, Communications Manager for BASF Corporation, to the Executive Committee. Watson was voted on the committee at the Board of Directors’ meeting that took place at the 2006 Agribusiness Forum. Watson replaces Sarah Vacek, Monsanto Company, on the committee.

Other members of the Executive Committee include:

President
Stephanie Gable, Ft. Dodge Animal Health

President Elect
Patty Travis, 5MetaCom

Secretary/Treasurer
Monte Reese, Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board

Members
Ken Anderson, David & Associates
Carol Anderson, Anderson Kisner Fallon LLC
Vicki Henrickson, Progressive Agriculture Foundation
Kyle Bauer, KFRM Radio
Beth Burgy, Broadhead+Company

Region IV hosted their Leader Workshop on Monday, July 10 at the offices of Rhea & Kaiser Marketing Communications in Naperville, IL. During this interactive workshop, topics focused on membership recruitment for the chapters, finding new leaders, and programming for the upcoming year as well as on the regional Best of NAMA awards ceremonies held in January.

Attending the workshop were: Ellen LaRose, Region IV Director (Morgan&Myers); Kenna Rathai, Region IV Director (Rhea & Kaiser Marketing Communications); Tom Breunig, Badger President (The Thomas Group, LLC); Meg Gatti, Mid-America President (Fastline Communications); Amy Bradford, Heartland President (Farm Credit Services of Illinois); Kim Lynch, Chicago President (Rhea & Kaiser Marketing Communications); and Julia Goebel, Chicago Regional Awards Chair (Rhea & Kaiser Marketing Communications).

Special thanks to all of the chapter leaders who attended the Leader Workshop!

During these interactive workshops, topics focus on membership recruitment for the chapters, finding new leaders and programming for the upcoming year as well as on the regional Best of NAMA awards ceremonies held in January.

Region III
Region III hosted their leader workshop on Thursday, June 22 in Northfield, MN just prior to the North Central Golf Outing. Attendees at this leader workshop included: Cliff Meyer, Region III Director (Farm & Ranch Guide/MN Farm Guide); Bret Kealy, Past Region III Director (Bock & Assoc., Inc.); Dawn Foster, Cornbelt President (Farm Credit Services of America); Brittney Roorda, Iowa President (The Meyocks Group, Inc.); Sarah Clemenson, North Central Treasurer/Scholarship Chair (Conklin Company, Inc.); Roger Reierson, Northern Prairie President (AdFarm); Katie Lukens, Membership Chair (AdFarm); and Greg Smith, North Central President (Padilla Speer Beardsley).

Region III will host their Best of NAMA Ceremony on January 11, 2007 in Fargo, ND.

Region II
Region II hosted their workshop on June 28 at the Kansas City Airport Hilton. The event took place the evening prior to the MoKan Golf Classic. In attendance at the workshop was: Kristin Andrews, Great Plains President (High Plains Journal); Ken Dean, MoKan Membership Chair (High Plains Journal); Kyle Bauer, Executive Committee (KFRM Radio); Melissa Sanders, Region II Director (AdFarm); Becky Johnson, MoKan Community Outreach Chair (Anderson Kisner Fallon); and Melanie Acklin, MoKan Programs Chair (Osborn & Barr).

Region II has not yet set a date for their Regional Best of NAMA Ceremony. More information on Regional Best of NAMA ceremonies will be announced as they are scheduled.

Region IV
Region IV will host their Leader Workshop on Monday, July 10 from 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Special thanks to Rhea & Kaiser for hosting the Region IV Leader Workshop at their offices in Naperville, IL.

Special thanks to all of the chapter leaders who attended the Leader Workshop!

National and chapter committee leaders are currently recruiting committee members. If you are interested in becoming a member of a national or chapter committee fill out the on-line form at http://www.nama.org/leader/leaderform.htm.

You can make the most of your membership by taking a committee role at the chapter or national level. In addition, you will gain hands-on leadership experience that will benefit you in your professional and personal life. Sign up today!