AgriBusiness Association offers leadership program

COLUMBUS — The Ohio AgriBusiness Association will select up to 30 promising leaders to participate in a leadership enhancement program in early 2015. Knowing that half our workforce could retire in the next 15 years, Leaders Achieving Unexpected New Career Heights (LAUNCH) was designed to inspire confidence in emerging leaders to help them achieve career growth and their organization’s strategic goals.

LAUNCH class

Earlier this year, 18 participants from 14 different organizations graduated from our second LAUNCH class. “The LAUNCH program made it possible to further my knowledge in the ag industry and allowed me to network with a great group of people,” said Alex Denman, Trupointe branch manager and 2014 LAUNCH participant.

The LAUNCH program will consist of two sessions: Jan. 6-8 and Feb. 17-19. The program will cover a variety of topics, including personal insight and diversity in thinking styles, management skills and decision making, communication and presentation skills, global issues in agriculture, sales and marketing principles, Ohio/regional trends in agribusiness, strategic planning, critical thinking, goal setting and organizational skills, state and local government, and a capstone project.

To be considered, participants must be employed by a member company/organization of the Ohio AgriBusiness Association, must be sponsored by their employer, and must submit an application and letter of recommendation.

Deadline to apply

The application form is available at www.oaba.net. The deadline to apply is Oct. 31.

For more information and to see what 2014 participants are saying about LAUNCH, go to oaba.net/events or contact Margo Long at 614-326-7520 or mlong@oaba.net.

The Ohio AgriBusiness Association is a membership-based agribusiness state trade association whose membership includes the manufacturers and wholesale/retail suppliers of plant nutrient and protection materials, the grain warehousing and marketing industry, the feed and seed industry, as well as companies providing equipment, financing, insurance, consulting, and other products and services for the agribusiness industry.