The Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) presented its most prestigious awards during the association’s annual meeting this week in Florida.
Being an organization of ag retailers, it stands to reason that one of the biggest awards is Retailer of the Year. Sponsored by Monsanto, ARA and AgProfessional magazine, the ARA Ag Retailer of the Year honors the very best in the industry and this year that was Gar Tootelian of central California, represented by president Greg Musson and managing partner Karen Musson. The award was presented to them by Mark Heldt of Monsanto and ARA CEO Daren Coppock. ARA Retailer of the Year
The ARA Distinguished Service Award honors an individual member of the association who has gone above and beyond the traditional responsibility to support the ag retail industry and the association – making the industry better for all. This year’s honoree is Jamie Southard of The Equity who was instrumental in the industry fight this year to maintain the retail facility exemption to the Process Safety Management (PSM) Standard. Listen to his remarks here: ARA Distinguished Service Award
In 2010, the ARA Lifetime Achievement Award was renamed the Jack Eberspacher Lifetime Achievement award to honor the memory ARA’s former President & CEO who passed away in July 2009. This award is the highest honor presented by ARA for a career in agricultural retail and it was presented this year to Dr. W. David Downey, Professor Emeritus, Purdue University. Listen to his remarks here: ARA Lifetime Achievement Award
2016 ARA Conference & Expo Photo Album
