Last week in St. Louis, USSEC hosted their Board of Directors for an orientation and planning meeting. After the Call to Order by Chairman Randy Mann, the group completed training required by the USDA. Jim Sutter, USSEC CEO, then provided an overview of the organization, including historical information, current corporate structure, and the organization’s identity and role in the Soy Family.
Linda Snell, Director, Certificate of Nonprofit Governance Program, LBL Strategies., Ltd., then led the group in a discussion of USSEC’s governance model, along with USSEC International Program Director, Ed Beaman. Sharon Covert, USSEC vice-chairman and farmer from Illinois, outlined proposed by-law changes. A discussion about membership led by board member Brandon Bickham (The DeLong Company) and Dana Johnson, USSEC Senior Strategy and Program Advisor, completed the first day of meetings.
The second day of the Board Meeting included highlights of the U.S. soy messaging platform currently under development. Next, Mike Mattei, USSEC CFO, outlined the organization’s financial processes. Drew Klein, International Program Director, described the unified export strategy process and Dean Barefield, Strategy and Evaluation Analyst, discussed evaluation tools. The meeting concluded with a USSEC office visit.
