Celebrating Our Volunteers

From The President

Celebrating Our Volunteers

By Brent Kemp, AgGateway President and CEO

I am writing this article during National Volunteer Week in America, a celebration of the contributions of time and talent that people dedicate to worthy causes. In the United States, nearly three out of four individuals offer some sort of volunteer services to their community, contributing nearly $184 billion, according to the most recent survey conducted by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Perhaps of note to AgGateway members and their HR departments, studies conducted by research and consulting firm Deloitte on volunteerism and impact in the workplace suggest that there are tangible benefits to employees and organizations that take advantage of volunteer opportunities. AgGateway’s nearly 17 years of successes are built on the efforts of volunteers past and present. If you ever question whether the energy you contribute to interoperability is worth it, consider that in 2021:

  • Five new working groups delivered resources that addressed problems in supply chain and field operations, including value calculators, JSON and XML schemas, and standards navigation tools
  • There were 175,000 lifetime downloads of ADAPT components developed and contributed by members and other developers
  • Systems integrators and trading partners made new B2B connections with each other and with AGIIS

AgGateway celebrates the work of our volunteers who lead and facilitate meetings, conference calls, and educational sessions. We encourage all our members to explore the many areas where your personnel can contribute and gain experience that further benefits your organizations.

Interested in building facilitation skills? There are plenty of committees and working groups looking for budding leaders. Do you have a new hire with excellent communications skills that could use some agriculture-specific interaction? Our Communications Committee and Member Advisory Panel can provide valuable experience and engagement.

As we continue into 2022, we want to celebrate the good work you are doing by showcasing connectivity. At our Mid-Year Meeting, we’ll be soliciting updates on where are members are adding connections with existing partners and developing new connections using existing standards. Let us know how you’re getting value – especially value you didn’t expect – out of implementation. Your success story inspires others to get connected. And when more adoption takes place, your organization can focus more on making use of the data you can access in a timely, accurate, and efficient manner instead of aggregating information from multiple places and different formats. Your connection report card isn’t just for bragging rights. It’s motivational for others. And that ultimately helps you.

Thank you to all our volunteers, yesterday, today, and tomorrow, who contribute time, energy, and expertise to make agriculture more efficient. Your work is foundational to achieving organizational and global goals around profitability, sustainability, and stewardship. Keep up that good work, and help us tell your success story.