Strategic Plan Success: Delivering on Promises

From the President

Strategic Plan Success: Delivering on Promises

By Brent Kemp, AgGateway President and CEO

AgGateway’s founders had a vision for the agriculture industry. When representatives from our founding companies sat down and decided to form this organization, there were already well-established groups that developed and implemented standards-based messaging in the industry. What they weren’t doing - at least not well or consistently - was sharing best practices, harmonizing implementations, and coalescing on common reference data.

AgGateway’s founders recognized the efficiencies that could be achieved by investing in a forum where all of agriculture was welcome. Where inconsistencies could be corrected, and where tomorrow’s business problems could be addressed through technology. Their watch words and the mission was to Promote, Enable, and Expand eBusiness in Agriculture.

Fifteen years later we changed our watch words to Create, Engage, and Grow. We launched our current 5-year strategic plan in 2021, with several structural changes in the organization. We’d consolidated our regional activities into a single AgGateway the year before, and now we were focusing on working groups, meet ups, and digital resource management. And, by the way, we were making these changes in the midst of a global pandemic which forced us to adapt to new ways of creating and engaging.

We made commitments to our membership when we began the new plan. First, although we realigned our tiers, and the resulting dues and fees, we committed to a three year step up/step down period where our published rates would remain the same. I’m pleased to say we have kept that commitment and our 2023 dues and tiers are unchanged from where they were when we billed for 2021. The only change, a small adjustment to our AGIIS top subscription levels, will come in the approved 2023 budget.

We said we’d create digital resources, guidelines, and case studies. At this time, we’ve commissioned three portfolio Subcommittees, and 18 Working Groups, with two more on the way. We said we’d engage through new channels and increased industry outreach to tell the story of the work you do, and the efficiencies you’ve achieved. We’ve presented virtually and in person to regional and global audiences on topics like fertilizer connectivity, seed connectivity, field operations interoperability and ADAPT, and more. And we said we’d grow, in both our membership ranks and in the overall value of the organization to members. Today we at 214 members, with more prospect conversations scheduled before the year’s end.

This month’s annual conference in Clearwater, Florida, US, will be an excellent opportunity for you to tell your story of member value to others. You are coming from Brazil, Canada, Japan, and the United States. Registration is still open, and we’d love to see you from New Zealand, The Netherlands, Germany, the UK, France, and elsewhere. The networking that takes place, the conversations that lead to connections, the meet ups that lead to Working Groups, all build up the value you receive from your AgGateway membership. We learn from each other, identify common problems, and build common solutions. These opportunities to do so in person are what AgGateway’s founders envisioned would move our industry forward, allowing data to flow like water, easing current pain points and opening new channels for value creation.

As we look to the new year, I look forward to collaboratively promoting your successes, enabling new working groups and connections, and expanding your ability to use data to solve business problems. Let me know how we can create, engage, and grow together.