Greetings from Boone, Iowa. With the legislative recess underway I had the chance to escape DC for a few weeks. It's been a pleasure taking in some wide open spaces, including the Farm Progress show.
Our summer board meeting was held July 23-25, in Salinas, California. The NAFB board ventured west in an effort to expand awareness of NAFB in the region. The trip included a couple farm tours and lessons on California agriculture. The annual summer board meeting was planned by the NAFB office staff, but the AgNet West (Gary Cooper, Sabrina Hill and Taylor Hillman) team handled the majority of the planning and organizing. A big thank you to each of them for their help.
As usual, first thing on the agenda was NAFB business, including an exciting chapter for the future of NAFB. Earlier this year, the building where the NAFB office is located came up for sale. With that news, I appointed a committee to research the pros and cons of purchasing the facility. After continued discussion, hearing from the committee and gaining insight from other non-profit groups, the NAFB Board approved the property purchase. To protect our organization we also created an LLC that is tasked to oversee the property finances.
NAFB Executive Director Tom Brand put it this way, "Just like finding the perfect piece of farm land, the opportunity to purchase a building in a growing area, only comes around once.”
The facility includes five other business tenants who are in multi-year rental contracts. When discussing the idea with the bank and our NAFB investment professional, they agreed the move is a way to expand the organization's portfolio.
“The purchase of the office building allows the association to diversify our investments, provides an additional income stream and helps the association continue to be financially sound.”
Throughout the time I’ve served on the board, one of the questions has always been taken into consideration, “How do we add more value for members?”
The board agreed this step to diversify is another move toward giving back by creating another avenue to build financial footing. Programs such as this year’s Washington Watch hotel subsidy, an expanded youth membership, the commitment to continued research and the NAFB Media Planner were all done to create awareness of our organization and our members.
On that note, the NAFB staff has been busy distributing information about the NAFB Media Planner. At www.nafbplanner.com, media planners can find all the information they need in a single source. Like a knife that needs a sharp edge, the planner needs current membership information. Have you updated your information and kept it current? That is the best way to make sure it stays a useful, and helpful source for the advertising industry. The site was created as a resource for agencies and advertisers, but it's up to our NAFB broadcast outlets to populate their information. For some of us, that responsibility might fall on a coworker who doesn't understand the opportunity at hand. That means your information may not be correct. I encourage you to take a look.Is the pertinent information about you and your programming available? This is an opportunity to highlight the exceptional service you provide to your audience. You know why your listeners tune in each day, so brag about your shop, share your story and let them know where to find you.
In closing, I just spoke with Mindy Oberly, who reports the Media Planner has started off on the right foot and continues to see increased usage. We continue to hear of NAFB members who receive calls from advertisers who are using the new NAFB tool, utilizing the consolidated information from NAFB entities, the US Agriculture Census data and more. I know that's an experience that will be repeated throughout our membership!
If you have questions with the site, contact the NAFB office. Mindy (mindy@nafb.com) is the primary contact and has worked with members on the site and will be a tremendous help if you need assistance.
Good luck and please feel free to drop me a note anytime!
Janet
