U. S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, made a visit to St. Louis today. He was the keynote speaker at the St. Louis Agribusiness Club meeting and I have his comments available for you below. You’ll notice the Golden ZimmComm Microphone prominently displayed to get the best quality audio too! You can find some more photos from the event here: St. Louis Agribusiness Club Luncheon Photo Album

Following the luncheon he moved over to the National Operations Center for the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. The center is located in Overland, MO.

The new operations center will create more than 350 local jobs and reuse a federal facility while making the agency more efficient and cost effective in its work. The space is under construction so anticipation of the opening and related jobs is building.

You can listen to or download the Secretary’s Comments here: Secretary Vilsack's Remarks

Post Update: Now that I’m back at ZimmComm World Headquarters I thought I’d select out the specific comment Sec. Vilsack made regarding the NASS facility. He says that NASS conducts about 450 surveys every year which creates information that a lot of business decisions depend on. He says, “What we decided to do in the name of efficiency and better coordination of information is to essentially consolidate data collection from forty seven different field offices into a central integrated comprehensive and coordinated location here in St. Louis.” The photo is from the media event at the facility taken by Gene Danekas, Director, Missouri Field Office, NASS. Thanks Gene!

You can listen to or download the comment here: Secretary Vilsack's - NASS Ops. Ctr.