Jul 23, 2009
Washington – North Carolina crop protection company executives met with their state’s Congressional delegation recently during the first-ever North Carolina Crop Protection Agricultural Summit. CropLife America (CLA) member company executives participated along with CLA leadership and the association’s Board Chairman, Eric Wintemute, president and CEO of California-based Amvac. The group discussed current and emerging priority legislative issues impacting crop protection and modern agriculture, including business related interests central to operations in North Carolina, during several briefings on Capitol Hill, July 16.
“The summit not only was an opportunity to participate in a dialogue on many issues important to both the industry and agriculture but also provided an opportunity for our members, whose companies and employees are an integral part of North Carolina business community and economy, to engage their Representatives and Senators on important policy decisions and state-based business concerns,” said Jay Vroom, CLA president and CEO.
Participation from North Carolina’s crop protection sector included William Lewis, Business Unit Head for North America Arysta LifeSciences, Marty Mascianica, vice president of Business Development, BASF, William Buckner, president and CEO, Bayer CropScience, Martin Petersen, president and CEO, Cheminova, Inc., John Rabby, president and CEO, Makhteshim Agan of North America (MANA) a North American subsidiary of Makhteshim Agan Industries, William Culpepper, president and CEO, SePRO Corporation, and Valdemar Fischer, president, Syngenta Crop Protection.
On Thursday morning, executives visited with Representatives Bob Etheridge (D - NC, 2nd District), David Price (D - NC, 4th District), Howard Coble (R - NC, 6th District), Larry Kissell (D - NC, 8th District ) and Brad Miller (D - NC, 13th District), along with staff from the offices of Representatives Walter Jones, Jr. (R - NC, 3rd District) and Mike McIntyre (D - NC, 7th District). Briefings in the afternoon were conducted with Senators Kay Hagen (D - NC) and Richard Burr (R - NC) to discuss issues related to the crop protection industry, including the Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts and other items on the legislative agenda for the 111th Congress. They also addressed matters specific to operating business in North Carolina.
“Our lawmakers recognize the role of agriculture in maintaining a strong economy. We, along with our members, appreciate the opportunity to advance dialogue on the vital importance of crop protection to preserving American agriculture and to highlight the contributions of our North Carolina member companies in fueling economic progress in their states,” added Beau Greenwood, CLA executive vice president of government relations and public affairs.
