The deadline for submitting nominations for the Agribusiness Leader of the Year and the NAMA Marketer of the Year is one month away. Submit your nominations to the NAMA office by January 19, 2007. Both awards will be presented at the 2007 Agri-Marketing Conference & Trade Show, April 11-13 in Dallas.

Agribusiness Leader of the Year
George Thornton, President & CEO of Agriliance LLC, was presented with the Agribusiness Leader of the Year Award, NAMA’s highest honor, at the Opening General Session of the 2006 Agri-Marketing Conference & Trade Show in Kansas City.

Thornton joined Agriliance in 2001 and spent his first 12 months traveling throughout the country, listening to dealers and growers share ideas on products and services they most value in a supplier. With a clear understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the company, Thornton set clear goals for the organization, motivated his teams and gave them the resources needed to achieve a dramatic turnaround in every facet of the company’s business.

The Agribusiness Leader of the Year award honors an outstanding leader in agribusiness, education, government service or other related areas. Solicited from senior level position holders in private, public or academic service, nominees should exemplify excellence in agribusiness by their significant contributions to the industry. Nominees do not need to be NAMA members.

If you would like to nominate someone for the Agribusiness Leader of the Year award, please fill out the nomination form on-line now at http://www.nama.org/awards/agribusinessform.htm or download the Agribusiness Leader Nomination form in an Adobe .PDF format by visiting, http://www.nama.org/awards/agbusapplication.pdf.

NAMA Marketer of the Year
Tom Davis, Group Publisher of Meredith Corporation’s Men’s Brands, was presented with the NAMA Marketer of the Year award during the Second General Session at the 2006 Agri-Marketing Conference & Trade Show in Kansas City.

Davis had the foresight to envision the major shifts taking place in the way information is distributed and consumed by readers. Not only has he continued to reinvest in Successful Farming magazine with a major redesign, but he has also been alert to the power of the internet by viewing Agriculture Online (Successful Farming’s online presence) as a profit center of its own, capable of a presence both supportive and supporting of print, but also able to function at another level entirely.

The NAMA Marketer of the Year 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. Nominees must be NAMA members.

If you are interested in nominating someone for the NAMA Marketer of the Year award, please fill out the nomination form on-line now at http://www.nama.org/awards/namamarketerform.htm or download the NAMA Marketer of the Year nomination form in an Adobe .PDF format by visiting, http://www.nama.org/awards/mktrapplication.pdf.

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