The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking nominations for the National Potato Promotion Board to fill 60 board seats with terms that expire February 29, 2024. Nominations are due to the board by August 15, 2023.
Nominees are needed to succeed members in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Importers. Appointed members will serve the 2024 to 2027 term.
Nominations for producer members are made by producers at meetings in the producing sections or states. Importer members are nominated by importers of potatoes, potato products and/or seed potatoes. For election and nomination information, contact your state program manager or Chelsea Gray at Potatoes USA at (303) 369-7783 or by email at Chelsea@potatoesusa.com. You may also contact USDA Marketing Specialist Deanna Bakken at (202) 720-8085 or by email at Deanna.Bakken@usda.gov.
More information about the board is available on the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) National Potato Promotion Board webpage and on the board’s website at www.potatoesusa.com.
Since 1966, Congress has authorized industry-funded research and promotion boards to provide a framework for agricultural industries to pool resources and combine efforts to develop new markets, strengthen existing markets and conduct important research and promotion activities. AMS provides oversight to 22 boards. The oversight ensures fiscal accountability and program integrity and is paid for by industry assessments.
AMS policy is that diversity of the boards, councils and committees it oversees should reflect the diversity of their industries in terms of the experience of members, methods of production and distribution, marketing strategies, and other distinguishing factors, including but not limited to individuals from historically underserved communities, that will bring different perspectives and ideas to the table. Throughout the full nomination process, the industry must conduct extensive outreach, paying particular attention to reaching underserved communities, and consider the diversity of the population served and the knowledge, skills and abilities of the members to serve a diverse population.
