NAMA has honored Jon Anderson, President of OPEN ROADS, with the NAMA Marketer of the Year award. The award will be presented during the Second General Session of the 2009 Agri-Marketing Conference, “Hot Ideas, Sizzling Solutions ” on Thursday, April 16 at 11:00 a.m. in Atlanta, Georgia and is sponsored by AgriMarketing magazine.

NAMA recognizes its active members with senior management of marketing and/or sales responsibilities with the NAMA Marketer of the Year award. This award is NAMA’s most prestigious honor awarded to active members of the association and honors outstanding accomplishments in the field of agri-marketing

Jon Anderson, along with two of his colleagues, created OPEN ROADS, a business growth and development services firm, in 2002. Last year, Anderson and his team at OPEN ROADS celebrated their five-year anniversary of the firm. Starting their business with no clients and no business, Anderson has helped grow OPEN ROADS into a highly successful business growth and development firm. Their business now includes 12 clients, a half dozen consulting associates and billings exceeding $1 million for several years running. Capitalizing on his skill and vision, the company’s innovative business structure and outside the box service offerings make OPEN ROADS somewhat unique in agriculture.

Anderson was a leader in the launch of Syngenta’s Callisto herbicide, which deservedly won Best of Show at the NAMA national awards competition in advertising, for its innovative positioning as a weed control agent derived from natural origins. The active ingredient in Callisto is now the number one selective herbicide active ingredient in the world. Since 2005, Anderson, the OPEN ROADS leader on this account, has successfully repositioned the iconic Harvestore brand. The firm attributes their achievement to a communications strategy that was highly public relations-oriented versus mass media, focus groups conducted, in-depth dealer “heart-to-heart” market research, new websites and electronic communications, and the results from consulting with the company for new programs to improve parts, service and financing. All this was achieved with a limited budget, but led by Anderson’s rich leadership. (Not only did Anderson’s work with the Harvestore brand result in successful business placement, it also placed the story on the cover of AgriMarketing in October, 2006.)

As an expert in business growth and development, Anderson earns the trust of C-Level corporate leaders in his efforts to help their companies post growth in market share and sales volume, working closely with internal teams and leading external groups to get the job done.

A specific example of Anderson’s ability to demonstrate initiative that has contributed to the overall marketing and sales of a company’s success, is highlighted in the story of Engineered Storage Products Company (ESPC). Armed with a solid revitalization business plan based on extensive market research, Anderson led an enthusiastic new owner of ESPC – owner of Harvestore, Slurrystore and other related products – to begin aggressively reintroducing itself to the North American ag market.

In just 18 months, the results were just short of spectacular, revenues jumped 25%, new Harvestore structure sales increased more than 200%, Slurrystore sales were up 200%, and pre-owned structure sales were climbing. Sales within the ag market were topping $15 million, allowing five new dealerships to be added in the past two years.

His involvement with the Badger NAMA Chapter is extensive, chairing its annual golf outing for over 10 years, as well as supporting the young, newest members of the agricultural marketing industry. Furthermore, he truly cares about the industry’s young people, and is an excellent role model thanks to his integrity, his personality and his dedication to the people and causes he believes in. He exemplifies this as his continues to be involved in the critiquing and practice rounds for the student marketing competition. In addition, Anderson developed and presented a building a personal branding strategy to the student group. The presentation focused around how to develop and build a personal brand, offering his expertise and mentoring skills. Students gained the ability to focus on their visions for the future, allowing them to create steps to start the journey.

Throughout his career he has continued to have a truly unwavering commitment to agriculture. He has continued to dedicate his visions, talents and energy to the betterment of the agricultural industry.

His leadership style shines through as he is extremely strong at developing the core strategy and key messages behind a product’s sales success. To compliment this development, Anderson demonstrates his ability to implement sound, disciplined programs that highlight solid company strategies and communicate messages clearly and efficiently.