A Parting Message From AFIA's First Virtual Chairman

Written by: Guest   |   May 14, 2021

Member value, Guest perspective

Scott Druker, Church & Dwight Company, Inc.

My time as chair of the Board of Directors for the American Feed Industry Association has come to an end. As I reflect back, I am reminded of a Swiss army aphorism:

“If the map and the terrain disagree, trust the terrain.”

When Joel Newman, former AFIA president and CEO, approached me in 2018 with the offer to serve as chair, I readily accepted the honor to do so and mapped out the next three years. In year one, I would serve as the chair-elect and help organize an amazing Executive Leadership Summit to be held in 2020. In year two, I planned to take advantage of my proximity to the AFIA’s office just outside of Washington, D.C., and hop on a train from Philly to D.C. once a quarter to spend time working in person with the great staff that makes up the AFIA. I intended to spend quarterly Board meetings getting to know the new members of the Board and help make sure their transitions went smoothly. Finally, in year three, I would serve as Chair of the IFEEDER Board of Trustees and help advise the public charity to achieve its strategic mission.

Well, the ink on my map for year three may still agree with the terrain ahead, but, boy, did the map and the terrain disagree in years one and two!

Despite my map not matching the terrain all too well, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to serve as the first virtual chair of the Board of Directors. I knew our association was staffed with talented and dedicated people, as well as built from an equally passionate membership. Over the past year working with the team, I got to see firsthand how well they do their jobs and how our membership steps up to meet unprecedented challenges.

Pressure testing a system is a proven way to find the leaks. 

The challenges brought about by COVID-19 certainly pressure-checked the staff and our association and, I think, we all can agree we passed the test. Despite significant revenue shortfalls brought about by cancelled events – the Purchasing and Ingredients Supplier Conference, the International Production & Processing Expo – the staff didn’t give in. They sought ways to control what could be controlled by managing expenses and establishing virtual seminars and programs to help generate some revenue.  Additionally, the association made significant progress on key objectives, such as working with the Food and Drug Administration for amended label claims for feed ingredients and kicking off a sustainability initiative to help support our membership base.

While COVID-19 infections still rage on in parts of the world, we are starting to see more and more parts of the United States relax restrictions, as more people have been vaccinated or have access to vaccinations. As an association, we are moving forward with plans to host several of our most popular events (assuming the current trends continue) this upcoming year.

As I write this, I am a few weeks away from getting on a plane for a routine business trip for the first time in over 14 months. I look forward to continuing this trend and seeing many of you at AFIA events over the next year. 

As I pass my duties along to the new chairman of the Board of Directors, Mike Schuster of Laidig Systems, Inc., I want to thank all of the Board members and all the members of our association for your commitment to our industry. It has been a great honor to be able to do my part to serve you.

Finally, my biggest thanks is to the staff of the AFIA for setting a great example of what it means to be dedicated and hard working. Great job navigating a difficult terrain!