FEB_25_Sweetpotato Speak

LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

“We are continually advocating on the industry’s behalf!”

Happy National Sweetpotato Month! Your NC Sweetpotato Commission is proud of the work accomplished this past year on behalf of the industry. As a member of our SWEET industry, we want to ensure that whether you attended this year’s Annual Meeting of Membership or not, you have access to all the details you may find of benefit! For those who attended the Annual meeting, we promised access to presentations, in both video and presented slide decks, including Dr. Boyette’s hand out on, The Preventative Maintenance of Sweetpotato Curing and Storage Facilities . Every bit of these resources are available on YOUR NCSC Member Portal ! (Not sure how to log in or forgot your credentials… Not to worry, call the NCSC Office (919) 894-1067 and one of our staff will assist you with logging in!)

By the time you read this, I will have attended Fruit Logistica and represented the industry through a partnership with SUSTA within their pavilion! If you were able to attend our State meeting, you may have heard me mention the importance of completing our office’s web directory form. This form is important as it provides us with the ability to list your operation (no matter the size and/or offerings) for those around the nation and globe to utilize in contacting you directly when trying to source their sweetpotatoes. Additionally, we created a dedicated landing page just for Fruit Logistica participants, pointing them to our exporters who had agreed to be listed! While it isn’t something that we discuss often through social media and other forms of public

communication, we are continually advocating on yours and the industry’s behalf. This past year, I have been engaged in a number of activities pertaining to H-2A Labor matters. At the Annual meeting I discussed these activities in its own separate presentation and encourage you to look for that presentation deck/video within your portal for more details. Two of the initiatives I mentioned are truly just getting started and one of those I need your help to ensure that I may have the biggest impact in our efforts. Please take a look at the H2A Labor Wage survey ad on the next page and consider providing the Commission with your data.

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