October Meeting Announcement

Make plans now to attend our next meeting and hear from Dr. Beachy. Here's all the details.

Where: Sheraton Westport at 900 Westport Plaza.
When: Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Time: Networking reception begins at 11:30 a.m., followed by lunch and the featured program at noon.
How to Register: Contact GatewayNAMA@yahoo.com or call 636/449-5040. Registration is $20 and will be collected at the door.
TOPIC: St. Louis at the Heart of the BioBelt

Dr. Roger Beachy, president of the Danforth Center, will speak on the unique work and research being done at the Center. The Danforth Center partners with other research institutions across the region and the United States in conducting ground-breaking research in the plant sciences. Dr. Beachy is internationally known for his research on virus-resistant plants and oversees 160 staff and 12 labs at the Center.

Welcome to our New Members!

In August, we added three new members to our ranks at the Gateway Chapter. Be sure to take a moment to greet these individuals when you see them at events and meetings.

- Brenda Barnes, director of marketing & communications for IRON Solutions LLC

- Laurie Bonnot, account executive for Brownfield

- Becky Grisham, director of communications for Missouri Corn Growers Association

Welcome aboard!

For Those On the Job Prowl...

If you know someone in Kansas City, or are looking out that way yourself, here are a couple of job openings from recruiter Mary Czarnecki at Osborn & Barr Communications.

1) Account Executive
Purpose of Position: Under the supervision of the Account Supervisor this position is responsible for the liaison between the client and the agency to position client issues and services, products and brands in the marketplace to achieve client and agency goals.
Requirements: BA in journalism, communications, marketing, public relations or related degree; 3-5 years account service experience - client side ok; animal health experience; communication skills & business acumen; organizational skills and leadership skills; occasional car & air travel required for meetings and occasional late hours and/or weekends.

2) Managing Director
Purpose of Position: In this capacity, this position serves as the senior leader on all Kansas City based accounts and provides direction and coordination of account activity. Developing and growing current business and bringing in new business to the agency is a prime responsibility.
Requirements: 10-15 years account management experience; BA degree in advertising, marketing, communications, journalism, business administration or similar; negotiation and communication skills; business acumen; leadership abilities.

To apply for either position, send resume and a brief cover letter with salary requirements to HR at Osborn & Barr Communications. E-mail is preferred: hr@osborn-barr.com. Please include job title in "subject" heading. Fax 314-726-6350, Mail: One North Brentwood Blvd, 8th floor, St. Louis, MO 63105.

For other positions, be sure to check out the National NAMA job board .

Meeting Schedule

We have a meeting schedule which was handed out at the meeting earlier this week at Monsanto. You can download the PDF file here: Gateway NAMA Meeting Schedule

Here's what's planned:

Tuesday, October 18, 2005
St. Louis at the Heart of the BioBelt

Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Renewable Fuels Panel Discussion
It’s Here…Now What Does It Mean For Us?

December 2005
Anheuser-Busch After-Hours

Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Bringing Internet Access To Rural America
Special Blogging Workshop

Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Global Agribusiness

Friday, March 17, 2006
Agribusiness Luncheon with the National
Postsecondary Agricultural Student Organization

Tuesday, April 11, 2006
New Business Partnerships

Tuesday, May 9, 2006
The “New” Small Farmer

To register for a meeting, contact
GatewayNAMA@yahoo.com or call 636/449-5040.
Registration fee for all meetings is $20
(cash or check).

Schlafly - Happy Hour Time

What do you say we do this every month?

Happy Hour Tap

The man pouring the beer is always a very popular person at happy hour.

Pics From Happy Hour

It looks like everyone was having a good time.

Opening Event - Happy Hour

Here's a message from our fearless leader Becky Rasmussen:

Thanks for everyone who was able to attend NAMA’s kick-off event at Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood. We had a number of new faces in the crowd, and we hope everyone had a good time networking and learning a little more about the brewery and the Schlafly brand. Congratulations to Tim Leon, Jason Hoag and Wendell Knehans – who were the winners of our door prize drawings.

Attendees had the opportunity to visit with other members, enjoy some great beer, take a tour of the Bottleworks Brewery and learn more about Schlafly marketing from Dan Kopman, vice president and co-founder. Dan shared with us a brief history of Schlafly, his vision for the future, and some of the unique things the Bottleworks is doing to connect with the local community. For example, the Bottleworks hosts the Maplewood Farmer’s Market every Wednesday, as well as a number of other special events. On-site is a garden in which is grown nearly all of the herbs for the restaurant, along with many of the vegetables. The restaurant buys as much as possible from local vendors, and each month hosts “SLOWednesdays”, which offers the public the opportunity to learn more about where there food comes from and to meet local farmers and producers. For more information on these programs or to sign up for their newsletter, visit www.schlafly.com.

Look forward to seeing everyone at the meetings and events scheduled for the year!

September Meeting Keynote Speaker Kerry Preete

Our speaker at our first fall meeting was Kerry Preete, Vice President of U.S. Crop Production for Monsanto. Kerry gave an excellent overview of all the changes the company has undergone in recent years. He said that the company is now 100 percent agricultural focused.

He had way more material than we can summarize here. It was interesting to note that he said the company really got their start using chemicals to obtain a result but that the future is in engineering traits into plants that will generate the same result and mean that we don't have to use so many chemicals.

The Presidents Speak

At our first fall meeting, President, Becky Rasmussen, Drake & Co., handled our duties. This joint meeting with the St. Louis Agribusiness Club was set up by them.

Everyone was provided with a schedule of all our upcoming meetings. We'll have that posted here sometime this week.



Handling things for the Ag Club was their president, Dean Dittmar, Facilitating Coordination In Ag Education.

1st Fall Meeting At Monsanto

Our first fall joint meeting with the St. Louis Agribusiness Club was held at Monsanto. The food was good and by the way, our speaker, Kerry Preete, VP of U.S. Crop Production, gave us an excellent overview of the company and how they see their business developing in the future.

After the lunch and presentation, attendees got a tour of the Donald Danforth Plant Sciences Center.

Become A NAMA Advocate

Once you sign up as a NAMA Advocate and receive your AdvoKit from the NAMA office, you'll be expected to seek out potential members and lay the groundwork for recruiting members. After making contact, you'll coordinate the follow-up through the NAMA office. Or you can follow-up to "Close the deal."

Becoming an Advocate will bring you the satisfaction of helping the organization, and you'll be recognized in the NAMA News section of Agri Marketing magazine, the National NAMA e-News and the Grassroots newsletter. You'll also be recognized at the Agribusiness Forum and the Agri-Marketing Conference & Trade Show with a ribbon on your name badge. In addition, you will be invited to the "First Timer/Leader" reception at the conference.

Sign up now at http://www.nama.org/advocate/advocatesignup.htm to receive your AdvoKit and start advocating today!

Next Gateway Meeting Is Monday, September 12

The Gateway Chapter of the National Agri-Marketing Association and the St. Louis Agri Business Club will kick off their joint meeting schedule Monday, September 12, with a presentation by Kerry Preete, Vice President of U.S. Crop Production for Monsanto.

His topic will be "innovative agriculture that creates incredible things today." Kerry is one of Monsanto's top management people and deals with a variety of agri-marketing issues, from biotech to trade and how they impact U.S. crop production and the future of US farming.

Mr. Preete joined Monsanto in 1985 as a sales representative in Saskatchewan and has served in a variety of sales, marketing and commercial development positions for Monsanto in both U.S. and international markets. Kerry has led the Global Product Strategy Organization and most recently was the Vice President of the U.S. Branded Business. In his current role, he has commercial responsibility for Monsanto's U.S. businesses that include chemistry, traits, and our branded and licensed seed businesses.

You don't want to miss a chance to hear what's in the pipeline at Monsanto that could dramatically impact the future of U.S. crop production! So mark your calendar for Monday, September 12, and join us at Monsanto's headquarters.

The meeting will be held on Monsanto's main campus in Creve Coeur in the St. Louis Room of Building A. You may enter the campus from either Olive Street Road or Lindbergh Avenue and just follow the signs to Building A.

A special addition to the program will be a guided tour of the Donald Danforth Plant Sciences Center across the street following the luncheon. But because of the Center's logistics, space is limited to the first 40 people who sign up.

Please reserve your spot for the presentation (and please indicate if you're interested in the tour) by e-mailing GatewayNAMA@yahoo.com or by calling Becky 636/449-5040.

Date: Monday, September 12, 2005

Time: 11:30 reception, noon luncheon (followed by optional tour at Donald Danforth Plant Sciences Center ).

Location: Monsanto Campus, 800 N. Lindbergh Blvd. , St. Louis , MO 63167 ? St. Louis Room of Building A

Cost: $20 per person.

RSVP to gatewaynama@yahoo.com or 636/449-5040 by Wednesday, September 7.