John Schoenecker of HM Clause is the new chairman of the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) after elections were held at the annual meeting in Indianapolis last week.
“As I become chair, one of my focuses will be advocacy,” Shoenecker said in an interview. “That’s part of our strategic plan, something we need to do to get the word out on the good things we do in our seed business.” The advocacy initiative will involved educating members on making their voice heard in the media and by policy makers on the state and national level.
“Make Your Voice Heard” will be the theme for next year’s convention, which will be held in Washington DC. “As part of that we’ll have a pre-convention event called ‘Storm the Hill,'” said Schoenecker. “So we’ll bring our members in, work with them for a day or so talking about the current issues on the Hill, give them some background on talking to their legislators and make them feel comfortable with the process.”
Listen to an interview with John here: [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/asta/asta14-schoenecker.MP3″ text=”Interview with John Schoenecker, incoming ASTA Chairman”]