Thornton to Lead AFBF Communications - American Farm Bureau

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 26, 2013 ? The American Farm Bureau Federation announced that Mace Thornton will lead the organization?s Communications Department. As executive director of communications, Thornton, an agricultural public relations veteran, will manage the organization?s communications staff, according to AFBF Executive Vice President and Treasurer Julie Anna Potts.

?Mace brings nearly three decades of diverse communications experience to this position,? Potts said. ?AFBF will greatly benefit from Mace?s experience and insights gained from working with the media as well as other organizations both inside and outside of agriculture.?

Mace will implement AFBF?s communications strategies, manage the Communications Department and staff, and help lead AFBF as a member of its management team.

Mace has more than 28 years of communications experience, with most of this time spent working in agriculture. He joined AFBF in 1990 and has been serving as acting director, communications, since Oct. 1. He has been a senior member of the staff and has contributed to AFBF?s strategic communications, public relations, media relations, issues management, and social media efforts. Prior to joining the AFBF staff, Mace worked as a member of the Kansas Farm Bureau communications department, and as a reporter for The McPherson (Kan.) Sentinel.

Mace earned his bachelor?s degree in journalism from Benedictine College in Kansas. He grew up on a farm in the Sunflower State, where his family, members of the Doniphan County Farm Bureau, owned and operated a small farrow-to-finish hog operation. He recently completed a two-year term as president of the Agricultural Relations Council, the only association dedicated to serving the unique needs of public relations professionals working in agriculture, food, fiber and other related industries.

?AFBF is pleased that Mace will be leading our communications efforts,? said AFBF President Bob Stallman. ?As the American Farm Bureau reorganizes, integrates and realigns its organizational resources behind implementing our grassroots policies, we know that the strategic communications and analytical skills that Mace offers will take us down the road to success. Our mission to strategically communicate regarding the grassroots policies that benefit America?s farm and ranch families is in good hands.?

-30-

Source: http://www.fb.org/index.php?action=newsroom.news&year=2013&file=nr0326.html

mr rogers jamie lee curtis spring equinox audacious pollen count mexico city mexico earthquake