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SEPTEMBER 2015 SEEDWORLD.COM 61 ASTACHAIRMANCALLSFORCONTINUEDADVOCACY During the gala banquet then ASTA chair John Schoenecker recognized industry leaders and thanked them for their service. He also urged members and the entire seed industry to con- tinue its advocacy efforts and investment in the association. Shoenecker recognized ASTA members who are going off the board of directors. These include Mervyn Selvidge of ZS Seed Services Inc. who served as Western Region vice presi- dent and Jim Schweigert of GroAlliance LLC who most recently served as vice president to Canada. Stepping in to fill those roles are Fred Fabre of SW Seed Company and Matt Hynes of GROWMARK respectively. Before handing over the gavel and stepping down as chair- man Schoenecker urged the association to continue advocat- ing for issues important to the seed industry. Advocacy was the overarching theme of Schoeneckers year as chairman. Strong advocacy is needed to further drive the debate on issues such as GMO-labeling that affect the seed industry he said. This year ASTA worked to build advocacy and education tools provided training for members kicked off a new communi- cations campaign and launched the SeedFirstPAC. The SeedFirst PAC which formally launched the week of the convention aims to strengthen the seed industrys fluence at the federal level. Stay up to date with the PAC by following it on Twitter seedfirstpac. We are in a really strong position but have to further our interests and continue our efforts he said. Please keep these efforts going and think advocacy and think ASTA. Shoenecker acknowledged that theres risk involved but he said companies must be willing to take on a little risk to advance the larger issues pollinators a seed-specific international standard on phytosanitary measures synchronizing regulatory approvals and more. Weve got to be willing to take these risks Shoenecker said calling for companies to commit people time and resources to the association to continue moving these efforts forward. In wrapping up his year as ASTA chair John Schoenecker of HM.CLAUSE provides perspective on how the industry needs to come together to further progress. As one of the final orders of business at the annual convention the membership voted in the new officers for 201516. At the helm and serving as chair is Risa DeMasi of Grassland Oregon. Mark Herrmann of Monsanto Vegetable Seeds serves as vice chair and Tracy Tally of Justin Seed Company serves as second vice chair. Regional vice presidents for the association include Southeast Perry Bohn BASF. Northeast Andy Ernst Ernst Conservation Seeds. Central David Pearl The CISCO Companies. North Central John Latham Latham Hi-Tech Seeds Inc. Northwest Rob Mitchell The J.R. Simplot Company. South Alan Ostercamp RiceTec Inc. West Fred Fabre SW Seed Company. From the Canadian Seed Trade Association Wayne Gale Stokes Seeds. To Canada Matt Hynes GROWMARK Inc. From the Mexican Seed Trade Association Jose Luis Gastelum Syngenta Seeds Inc. To Mexico Jerry Monk of Warner Seeds Inc. Interim. As chair DeMasi is tasked with establishing quantifiable measurements of success toward reaching the goals of ASTAs Strategic Plan by 2018. In doing so she set goals for her first 100 days as chair and shared them with attendees. First I want to speak with all incoming regional vice presi- dents division and committee chairs directors at large U.S. regional and Canadian and Mexican representatives and ASTA senior staff DeMasi said. Second is to determine what is meas- urable and to establish benchmarks. And third is to develop clear and quantifiable measurements of success. During DeMasis acceptance remarks at the gala banquet she recognized trailblazers of the industry which is a play on the theme of the 2016 convention Blazing Trails highlighting the progress thats been made through the years and how far the association has come. Some of the trail blazers featured included Richard Robbins who was responsible for forming ASTA 132 years ago Henry Wallace Norman Borlaug and Dick Crowder among others. DeMasi says she will be prepared to report the associations progress in relation to its strategic plan at next years annual convention which will be held June 18-22 in Portland Ore. SW MEMBERSHIPELECTSNEWOFFICERSFOR201516 1. Speak with all incoming regional vice presidents division and committee chairs directors at large U.S. regional and Canadian and Mexican representatives and ASTA senior staff. 2. Determine what is measurable and establish benchmarks. 3. Develop clear and quantifiable measurements of success. Risa DeMasi GOALS