To recognize outstanding volunteer leadership achievement in promoting, enabling and expanding eBusiness in the agriculture industry. This leadership award is given annually to a member of AgGateway, and is awarded at the Annual Conference.
Candidates demonstrate:
Nominations will be reviewed and voted on by a panel consisting of the past three award winners.
Ron Storms (1944 – 2002) was one of the early leaders and proponents of electronic connectivity in agriculture. He was active in numerous industry organizations including RAPID (an AgGateway predecessor organization) and The Fertilizer Institute (TFI). He had a distinguished career at CF Industries starting in 1966. As eCommerce Manager, Ron was responsible for the development and coordination of all electronic commerce activities for CF Industries. Ron was respected by his peers for his guidance and dedication to furthering eConnectivity in agriculture.
For questions, contact Member Services at Member.Services@AgGateway.org.
The 2017 winner of the AgGateway Ron Storms Leadership Award is Randy Fry, Data Process and Information Systems Manager with Ceres Solutions Cooperative. In presenting the award, former Ron Storms recipient Dennis Daggett of ProAg described Fry as a driving force and champion of the AgGateway mission, both inside and outside the organization.
“Randy leads by example – with true conviction and heart,” Daggett said. “He has a ‘get it done’ attitude to move things forward. He is a true believer in AgGateway standards, and why the industry benefits as companies implement connections using those standards.”
Fry has served on AgGateway’s Operational Board and in leadership positions for the Seed Council and Automatic Identification Data Capture (AIDC) Task Force. He has led efforts to create informational materials and promotional efforts on barcoding in seed and ag retail operations.
The 2016 winner of the AgGateway Ron Storms Leadership Award is Dennis Daggett, Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at ProAg. In presenting the award, 2015 Ron Storms recipient Lori Edwards of Syngenta described Daggett as a visionary who sees the broader possibilities when it comes to eConnectivity in agriculture, and a leader who is always up for new challenges.
“He actively encourages others to come to the table to participate. He has a passion for his work and for building consensus,” Edwards said. “He also has a keen understanding of government regulation in agriculture, and knows the industry will benefit by staying on top of that regulation – especially when it comes to eConnectivity. So he has forged relationships within key agencies, especially within the U.S. Department of Agriculture.”
Daggett served as chair of AgGateway’s Precision Ag Council; and leads the Insurance, Regulation and Government working group, as well as specific activities within the SPADE Project to facilitate data management in farm systems. He also is the driver for the AgGateway AgGlossary, a public, one-stop location for agriculture terms, definitions, acronyms, key words, and synonyms, for the benefit of the entire industry. He has chaired AgGateway’s Conference Committee and provided other leadership roles to improve connectivity activities and resources for the industry.
Lori Edwards, Business Process Analyst Manager at Syngenta, was honored with the 2015 AgGateway Ron Storms Leadership Award. In presenting the award, former Ron Storms recipient Andres Ferreyra of Ag Connections Inc., described Edwards as a strong ambassador for the AgGateway mission to expand eBusiness, and as someone who focuses on open discussion, collaboration and solutions in getting work accomplished.
“She has brought great experience and perspective in many areas, working diligently on behalf of her company but also for the industry as a whole,” Ferreyra said.
Edwards is the incoming chair of the organization’s Crop Protection Council. In the past seven years she also has served on the Management Team, as chair of the Seed Council and chair of the Standards & Guidelines Committee, and in many other leadership roles in moving connectivity projects forward and improving connectivity resources for the ag industry.
The 2014 winner of the Ron Storms Leadership Award is Andres Ferreyra. Ferreyra has been a leader in AgGateway’s precision agriculture initiatives, including serving as the chair of the Precision Ag Council and management team lead on the Standardized Precision Ag Date Exchange (SPADE) Project. In presenting the award, former award recipient Andrew Jeremiah described Ferreyra as someone who has contributed “a phenomenal amount of time and energy” to AgGateway efforts. “He is known as a good thinker, a problem solver and a consensus builder,” Jeremiah said. “He is helping AgGateway navigate new waters, building on what AgGateway leaders have achieved in recent years in standards and guidelines. Andres has been very influential in moving that important work forward.”
The 2012 winner is Andrew Jeremiah, B2B IT Lead Analyst at Monsanto. “Andrew has accomplished a lot, but what stands out is his attitude – his passion and joy in these efforts,” said the 2011 winner Bruce Blitch, Global CIO at Tessenderlo Group, in presenting the award. “In his nomination letters – and from our personal experiences – we’ve learned about his strong work ethic, technical knowledge and passion, and also his strong sense of volunteerism and the betterment of the entire ag community.” Andrew has worked on numerous councils and task forces for AgGateway and its predecessor organizations. He has provided leadership and technical contributions within various Crop Protection and Seed Connectivity projects, for the Standards and Guidelines Committee, and in improvements to the AGIIS directory. These contributions have helped the ag industry build a foundation to support the expansion of standardized electronic connectivity.
The 2011 recipient, Bruce Blitch, CIO of Tessenderlo-Kerley Inc., has been involved with the CIO Roundtable, RAPID and AgGateway for a good number of years. Instrumental in not only becoming involved himself, he was also able get his entire organization to realize the benefits of belonging and participating in AgGateway. His staff became involved in many task forces, committees, the Management Team and projects under his leadership. As a member of AgGateway, his company successfully completed the CNC project; Bruce has been a Chairperson of the Crop Nutrition Council. As one of the "Founding Fathers" of AgGateway and serving as the board chair during the early years, Bruce has been instrumental in the organization since its very beginning. AgGateway was honored to name him as 2011's Ron Storms Award Recipient.
2018 Ron Storms Award Nomination Form will be posted in spring 2018.