News

USAPEEC membership grew in 2024

January 8, 2024

With the calendar turned to a new year, it’s appropriate to make note of the growth in membership USAPEEC experienced last year.

As reported at December’s winter meeting, the gains recorded in new and rejoined members marked quite an achievement.

In 2023, USAPEEC welcomed 28 new members and six rejoined members. USAPEEC opened the year with 181 members, and 166 renewed. So, despite some relatively minimal attrition, USAPEEC ended the year with a total of 200 members. The gain well exceeded the 2023 goal of a 10-percent membership increase.

The new and rejoined members, by membership category, included one egg producer, one turkey producer, one “other” producer, 17 trading companies, eight associates, one commodity board, and five friends _ a new category assuring that state organizations are well represented.

One new Friend of USAPEEC member is the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA), led by former USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, Ted McKinney. USAPEEC recently joined NASDA as well.

The recent growth is noteworthy in a historical context. USAPEEC recorded a 10 percent net increase in membership in 2023, compared to a net decrease of 3 percent in 2022, factoring in attrition.

For 2024, the goal is to maintain a net of 200-plus members, with a stretch goal of 210, as USAPEEC will shift the primary focus from member recruitment to member engagement to ensure that current members receive the utmost value out of their membership.

One way that will be done is through the development of more value-added events and activities like the inaugural Port of Charleston and Cold Storage Tour last November. Members can look forward to more opportunities like that in 2024, with plans being made for additional port tours, regional member receptions, lunch and learns, and targeted member visits.

If your organization has an interest in sponsoring or hosting any events, or if you have ideas you’d like to pass along as to the type of event you’d like to attend, let the USAPEEC membership team know. As we seek to make USAPEEC membership as robust as possible, we continue to rely on your feedback to make our organization stronger.