The National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) has announced three marketing and agricultural leaders as winners of the 2021 Professional Development Awards (PDA) of Excellence.
These awards honor members of the organization based on outstanding achievement in each of the professional development areas. The awards were presented in conjunction with the NAMA Fall Conference, October 4-6, 2021, in St. Louis.
Amy Bradford, current NAFB Allied Industry Council board member, received the 2021 Public Relations PDA award for drawing attention to GROWMARK in the national conversation. She has aligned GROWMARK to be packaged as a company with an expanding future which is demonstrated by the expansion of the company’s footprint into all of Canada and Mexico. Bradford has made sure GROWMARK is always a sponsor of NAMA events and activities, further advancing GROWMARK’s position as a major player in U.S. agribusiness.
Bradford has been instrumental in GROWMARK sponsoring several other agriculturally based organizations, including Young Farmers and Ranchers, FFA, Women in Agribusiness, and Student NAMA, among others. Her presence also has heightened the visibility of GROWMARK by increasing business and personal networking opportunities.
“I have served on the Allied Industry Council for two years,” Bradford said. “I have been a strong supporter of NAFB, participating in Trade Talk and sponsoring events at the national convention. I started my career at Illinois Farm Bureau, holding a variety of positions, including host of RFD Today, RFD Illinois Radio Network’s daily general interest broadcast. I have traditionally been on the other side of broadcasting and media in a media-relations capacity, and the stint into radio was a way to broaden my experience and skills. It also gave me great appreciation for the hard work broadcasters do to bring the story of agriculture to listeners.”
Bradford served on the NAMA executive committee and as its president in 2017. She was honored with the NAMA President’s Award in 2018 as well as additional awards from NAMA for various communications and marketing collaterals. She also has received awards from the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives and Cooperative Communicators Association in communications. Additionally, Bradford has worked with students in the Agriculture Future of America program.
Bradford recently was named president/chair of the Agriculture Council of America (ACA) and National Ag Day events. It is not a new job since she will still be at GROWMARK, but it will be a volunteer leadership opportunity.
The two other recipients of the 2021 NAMA PDA of Excellence are Susan Carney of Corteva Agrisciences, who received the Marketing Communications award, and Nicole Bechtel of National Cattleman’s Beef Association, who received the Sales award.
