Purdue seminars to help ag professionals be better managers
February 13, 2014
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Agribusiness professionals can build their management skills and expand their professional network at the Purdue University Center for Food and Agricultural Business 2014 seminars scheduled over the next several months.
All of the seminars will be on Purdue's main campus in West Lafayette.
"We offer unique programs directed at agribusiness professionals who want to continually improve their competencies in all aspects of, and for the life of, their careers," said Allan Gray, director of the center and Land O'Lakes Chair in Food and Agribusiness. "Our faculty and staff are passionate about delivering the best possible classroom environment for our participants so that they can take the skills they develop with us and make positive changes in their own companies."
Housed within the Department of Agricultural Economics, the center has designed and delivered professional development education since 1986. In addition to public seminars, it offers the MS-MBA in food and agribusiness management - a dual-degree online master's program - and specializes in developing customized management education for agribusinesses.
John Corbett, managing director at JBS United Inc., said the seminars he attended were "extremely valuable" to him.
"They understand the specific challenges that we face in the agriculture industry, and they offer many practical tools and techniques that will help agribusiness managers accelerate their performance and better achieve their leadership potential," Corbett said.
The center will offer the following programs:
* ASTA Management Academy, March 3-7. This is a management development seminar created for seed industry professionals in conjunction with the American Seed Trade Association. For more information, visit www.agecon.purdue.edu/cab/programs/asta.
* Sales Management and Leadership, May 28-29. This is designed to help sales managers assess and hone their skills to maximize their effectiveness. www.agecon.purdue.edu/cab/programs/sml.
* Agribusiness Finance for Non-Finance Managers, June 10-13. This gives non-finance managers an understanding of the basics of financial management, introducing managers to the financial management process and terms necessary to better articulate their financial goals. www.agecon.purdue.edu/cab/programs/agfinance.
* Precision Selling: Building Relationships with Large Farmers, Aug. 20-21. This focuses on strategies for working with large producers in the ever-changing agricultural marketplace. www.agecon.purdue.edu/cab/programs/ps.
* Structuring Decisions: Innovating Through Turbulence, Sept. 16-18. This brings definition and structure to decision-making, where uncertainty is a given and innovation is a necessity. www.agecon.purdue.edu/cab/programs/sdit.
More information and registration fees for each seminar are available at www.agecon.purdue.edu/cab.
Writer: Megan Sheridan, Center for Food and Agricultural Business, 765-494-8151, msheridan@purdue.edu
Sources: Allan Gray, 765-494-4323, gray@purdue.edu
John Corbett, 1-317-758-2616, john.corbett@jbsunited.com
Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Keith Robinson, robins89@purdue.edu
Agriculture News Page
