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FRANKFORT,
Ky. — The Kentucky Department of Agriculture has won
a prestigious award from a regional trade association
that provides marketing and exporting assistance to
participating companies.
The
Southern United States Trade Association (SUSTA) honored
Kentucky for generating the most export sales by companies
that participated in SUSTA's Market Access Program (MAP)
between Oct. 1, 2002, and Sept. 30, 2003. The award
was presented at SUSTA's summer meeting July 28-30 in
New Orleans.
Participating
Kentucky companies exported more than $62 million worth
of agricultural products in that span, accounting for
more than a quarter of total agricultural export sales
of $220 million in the entire SUSTA region, which includes
15 states and Puerto Rico.
“I
want to congratulate our international marketing specialist,
Kelly Ludwig, and our marketing office in general for
their efforts that led to this award,” Agriculture Commissioner
Richie Farmer said. “The amount of export sales is the
ultimate measurement of this program's success. I am
especially pleased that we achieved this honor in competition
with much larger states such as Texas and Florida. Kentucky
is one of the smallest states in SUSTA, so for us to
lead the region in export sales is a tribute to our
hard-working marketing staff and Kentucky's great food
companies.”
Kentucky
has been honored the previous two years for having the
most successful education outreach for the MAP branded
program. “When you do a good job of getting companies
participating in the program, it's just natural that
sales will follow,” said Jim Ake, executive director
of SUSTA. “The sales that Kentucky was able to generate
were just incredible.”
SUSTA
is a nonprofit trade association whose purpose is to
increase the export of high-value U.S. food and agricultural
products. Ake said SUSTA generates $50 in export sales
for every $1 of funding. The MAP program provides participating
companies with up to 50 percent reimbursement for international
marketing expenses.
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