GRAPEVINE, Texas, Oct. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Agricultural and Food Transporters Conference of American Trucking Associations announced today that it has hired veteran agricultural lobbyist Jon Samson as its new executive director.
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"We're happy to have Jon join our team, representing our interests before lawmakers and regulators," said AFTC Chairman Rick Yost, vice president of V-Y Truckline Inc., Sterling, Co. "Jon's personal and professional history with our industry makes him uniquely suited for this role."
Prior to coming to AFTC, Samson has worked as director of public policy for the Agricultural Retailers Association and served in the office Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.).
"I grew up on a hog farm in southwest Montana, and came to Washington in 2004 as an intern for the National Pork Producers Council, so agriculture has always been important to me," Samson said. "My family's hogs were shipped from Montana to either Idaho or California, so I understood, very early on, the importance of transportation to America's farmers, and that is what drew me to AFTC.
"I'm very excited to be undertaking this new challenge and look forward to representing AFTC's 300-plus members and supporting the critical work they do in delivering goods to the tables of America and the rest of the world," he said.
"We're pleased that Jon has agreed to join the ATA family through the Agricultural and Food Transporters Conference," ATA President and CEO Bill Graves said. "We're confident that he will do an exemplary job advocating for AFTC and its members."
Samson replaces Russell Laird who left AFTC earlier this year.
American Trucking Associations is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of 50 affiliated state trucking associations and industry-related conferences and councils, ATA is the voice of the industry America depends on most to move our nation's freight. Follow ATA on Twitter or on Facebook. Good stuff. Trucks Bring It!
SOURCE American Trucking Associations
