MID-CO Winter Outlook

The 2010 MID-CO COMMODITIES Winter Outlook meeting was held on January 26 at the Doubletree Hotel in Bloomington, Ill.

Attendees listened to presentations by MID-CO staff about the corn, soybean, and wheat outlook for the year. Presentations were also made about the dollar and its current role in the world economy.

The event was well-attended and a great opportunity to network and learn more about marketing and the services MID-CO offers.

GROWMARK Honored with Ag eBusiness Excellence Award

AgGateway, a non-profit consortium of businesses serving the agriculture industry, awarded GROWMARK with the sixth annual Ag eBusiness Excellence Award for its pioneering use of technology and implementation of the AgGateway tools and standards.

Tim Piper, GROWMARK executive director of IT and chief information officer (center) and Gary Garrett, GROWMARK IT project planning manager (right), accept the Ag eBusiness Excellence Award from Josh Wall, AgGateway representative.

The award is sponsored by AgGateway’s technology business partner, CSC, a global leader in providing technology-enabled solutions and services, and was presented to GROWMARK for the second time in six years. CSC will present a donation this month to The Boys & Girls Club of Prairie Central (Illinois) in recognition of the award.

AgGateway, which helps member companies improve their profitability and productivity by educating, promoting and expanding participation in eBusiness in agriculture and agriculture-related businesses, initiated the award to recognize member companies which best demonstrate the objectives of AgGateway, including implementation of eBusiness standards, use of implementation tools, industry education, and overall promotion and expansion of eBusiness in agriculture and agriculture-related businesses.

Josh Wall, AgGateway representative (left), presents a donation to the Boys and Girls Club of Prairie Central (Illinois) to Ann Moody, GROWMARK seed operations manager. Moody is the treasurer of the board of directors for the Boys and Girls Club.

“By taking advantage of eBusiness technologies and AgGateway’s tools, GROWMARK was able to improve speed and accuracy of shipment notifications, contracts and invoices,” said Rod Conner, president and chief executive officer of AgGateway. “In addition, GROWMARK’s customers have seen improvements in service, saving time and freeing employees to deliver even better customer service.”

“We’re honored to receive this award,” said Bill Davisson, GROWMARK chief executive officer. “GROWMARK is committed to leveraging the newest technology to improve the way we do business, minimize our costs, and deliver the best service possible to our member-owners.”