Industry Assoc Sponsors Meeting with State Poultry Groups
US - The US Poultry & Egg Association recently sponsored a meeting for state and regional poultry association executives at Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta. All the state and regional associations affiliated with USPOULTRY were invited.
4 November 2008
4 minute read
One of the objectives of the meeting was to make state organizations aware of the support services and technical assistance that U.S. Poultry & Egg Association can provide for them, according to USPOULTRY president John Starkey.
"For example," Mr Starkey said, "we already develop and support the information technology and web presence for several state organizations. So, we wanted to ensure that all the states were aware of the availability of that kind of support. Our goal is to make us all more effective and efficient in serving and representing our industry."
Another purpose of the meeting was to describe the services and expertise available from USPOULTRY on issues such human resources, employee safety, risk management, food safety, live production and environmental management. Active USPOULTRY programs in all those areas can provide the latest information and technical assistance to industry organizations and member companies.
The meeting also offered the states an opportunity to exchange ideas on programs they found to be successful and might be adopted in other states. One of the popular topics in the idea-sharing segment was on energy-saving. A variety of methods for saving energy was described by several state executives.
Abit Massey, president of the Georgia Poultry Federation said, "The US Poultry & Egg Association meeting for affiliated states was the most productive joint meeting that I have attended. It was a giant step forward in association cooperation and relationships. Even those of us who have worked closely with USPOULTRY learned more about their expanded activities and assistance to state associations. It gave state association executives a unique opportunity to get better acquainted and compare notes on a wide variety of programs. It was very beneficial to all, and Mike (Giles) and I feel that it sets the stage for even greater cooperation," Massey said.
"Everyone who attended was very positive about the opportunities the meeting offered," Mr Starkey said. "The state executives agreed to examine and address common issues in the months to come, then plan to meet again next year to follow up," he added.
State association executives in attendance were: Donna Abernathy, Tennessee Egg & Poultry Association; John Bryan, The Poultry Federation (Missouri); Bob Ford, North Carolina Poultry Federation; Gretta Irwin, Iowa Turkey Federation; Johnny Adams, Alabama Poultry & Egg Association; Jim Chakeres, Ohio Poultry Association; Mike Giles, Georgia Poultry Federation; Susan Joy, Nebraska Poultry Industries, Inc.; Hobey Bauhan, Virginia Poultry Federation; Marvin Childers, The Poultry Federation (Arkansas); James Grimm, Texas Poultry Federation; Charleston Laffin, South Carolina Poultry Federation; Mark Leggett, Mississippi Poultry Assoc., Inc.; Bill Mattos, California Poultry Federation; Leslie Stewart, Ohio Poultry Association; Steve Olson, Minnesota Turkey Growers, Broiler and Egg Association; Bill Satterfield, Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc.; Abit Massey, Georgia Poultry Federation; and Connie Smith, South Carolina Poultry Federation.
