National Coordinators Launch Agriculture Advocacy Venture, American Doorstop Project; Sign Strategic Sponsorship with 21st Century Equipment, LLC

Media Contact:

American Doorstop Project

www.AmericanDoorstopProject.com                                                              

jody@AmericanDoorstopProject.com

(406) 698-9675

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

National Coordinators Launch Agriculture Advocacy Venture, American Doorstop Project; Sign Strategic Sponsorship with 21^st Century Equipment, LLC

Billings, MT – Oct. 13, 2015 – Independent strategic planning consultants and national project coordinators, Melody Dobson and Jody Lamp, announce the launch of their new joint-agriculture advocacy venture called the American Doorstop Project, and name Nebraska-based 21^st Century Equipment, LLC., as one of its first Agrarian Ambassador Sponsors.

With 17 John Deere equipment dealerships in Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska, the 21^st Century Equipment, LLC, Corporate Support Center at 601 5^th Ave., Scottsbluff, Neb., will serve as the centrally-located national headquarters for the American Doorstop Project, as the team travels the United States to research, collect and preserve the stories that shaped the development of American Agriculture through the Agrarian Discipline.

“As a company, 21^st Century Equipment, LLC recognizes the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of the customers we serve,” says Chief Executive Officer, Owen Palm. “So, we applaud and support the efforts of the American Doorstop Project team as they bring agriculture stories to the forefront and develop even more education tools for consumers to understand those that work the land.”

As the creators of www.YourOnePowerfulVoice.com, Dobson and Lamp also recently worked with filmmaker Conrad Weaver of ConjoStudios, LLC, serving as national coordinators for the Great American Wheat Harvest documentary film, which received a 2015 Mid-America Regional EMMY® Award for Best Documentary-Cultural. The team currently works as the strategic planning partners for the U.S. Custom Harvesters, Inc., and will help the organization launch its Strategic Plan 2016-2020.

“We are honored to work with Agrarian Ambassador Sponsors, like 21^st Century Equipment, LLC, who have a direct connection to the import role agriculture has played in America’s past, present and future,” Lamp says. “They understand the disciplines and needs for the industry to continue producing food for a continually growing population.”

The American Doorstop Project stories will be featured in large-format book with accompanying website, video vignettes, social media links and pages, national and community engagement events, signage, and oral history narratives.

“Once completed and throughout the process, this project will connect presenters, public speakers, educators, docents and students with historical facts and narratives that provide insight to our country’s beautiful heritage,” Dobson says. “The stories we will share come from a deep understanding and appreciation for our own heritage and a desire to learn more about others and to help tell their stories,”

Dobson and Lamp bring a collective 40-plus years of professional communication experience and historical preservation knowledge. They work to create relationships of integrity that build the “esprit de corps” necessary to launch and fulfill the strategic plan and fund development program identified for a phase one project completion by Spring 2017.

To learn more about the American Doorstop Project and to find out about how you can make a financial contribution to help honor the legacies of our past and shed light on our nation’s agricultural history, visit the www.AmericanDoorstopProject.com website. For more information about sponsorship packages, media interviews, speaking appearances, call Jody L. Lamp, at (406) 698-9675 or by email jody@AmericanDoorstopProject.com

 

About American Doorstop Project

The American Doorstop Project is a joint-venture agriculture advocacy collaboration between independent national coordinators, Melody Dobson and Jody Lamp. The project preserves and promotes historical places, spaces and events that have shaped our country over the past hundreds of years. American Doorstop Project features a collection of stories that were instrumental in shaping America’s agricultural roots and had they not happened, America, as we know it, would be different than it is today. The strategic plan and fund development program for a project phase one completion is planned for Spring 2017.

Resource Links

Website& Blog: http://www.americandoorstopproject.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShareAgHistory?lang=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmericanDoorstopProject

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/shareaghistory/

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCijrIr3NPyKlVMnWDNbBvrA

Instagram: https://instagram.com/americandoorstopproject/

About 21^st Century Equipment LLC 

 21^st Century Equipment LLC established in 1996, offers 17 John Deere dealerships in Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming. In addition to the traditional parts, service and new/used equipment offerings, 21st Century Equipment offers support with precision ag and big data management, water management, equipment leasing, RTK support and much more. Serving those who work the land, 21^st Century Equipment LLC is committed to reducing risk, improving profitability and increasing the competitive advantage for its customers by “Making Farming Easier. 

Resource Links                                                                                                                                                  Website& Blog: http://21stcenturyequipment.net/ 

 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/21stCenturyEquip?ref=hl 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/21CenturyEquip

News and Updates from the Producer/Director of the Great American Wheat Harvest documentary film

 

 We're in the middle of wheat harvest season across the country and our film crew has been traveling and capturing footage and interviews with harvesters, farmers, and others involved in the wheat industry. Check out our Facebook page to see photos and updates from our journeys! We've been to the following places: Vernon, TX; Guymon, OK; Canadian, TX; Shattuck, OK; Garden City, KS; Leoti, KS; Colby, KS; Goodland, KS; & Limon, CO. Check out the map of our path on the right.

 

Here's our upcoming schedule and tentative locations:

July 22-24: Imperial and Scottsbluff, NE
July 25-27: Wall, SD and surrounding area
July 28-30: Billings, MT and surrounding area

 

 

T-Shirts are Available! We've put together an awesome design for a T-shirt promoting the Great American Wheat Harvest film. Orders are coming in quickly from all over the world! It's amazing to see how many people around the world are interested in our film! Be sure to order your T-shirt here.

Sponsorships Available We've recently announced that A Total Manufacturing Company has joined us as a Silver Sponsor! With its roots deep in the agriculture industry, TMCO and National Manufacturing work with wheat breeders, food research laboratories, universities and companies worldwide that all have direct links to the food supply chain. We're so grateful for their support!   NOW is a great time for your company to join us as a sponsor! We're looking for Producer's Club level sponsors and we're looking for someone to step up an become our first GOLD Level sponsor.   For more information about all of our sponsorship opportunities, please contact me, National Executive Co-Coordinators, Jody L. Lamp at 406-698-9675 or send an email to: jody@greatamericanwheatharvest.com   To make a contribution now, click here:  Thank you and hope to see you as we travel North with the harvest crews!

 

Valentine's Day + Husker Bling + Ag Advocacy = A Love Thing!

Happy Valentine's Day 2013!  

A year ago today, I shared in my Valentine's Day blog that the founder of Hallmark Cards,  Joyce C. (J.C.) Hall, an 18-year-old entrepreneur from Nebraska, who first started the Norfolk Post Card Company, moved the entire business to Kansas City, Mo., in 1908, in no more than two shoe boxes. By 1913, Hall and his brothers were operating Hall's department store, selling postcards and greeting cards and in 1928, he marketed the cards under the "Hallmark" brand name. 

At a time when advertising was considered a waste of money, Hall began creating and placing ads and soon established Hallmark as the most recognizable brand name in the industry. Today, some may refer to Valentine's Day as a "Hallmark Holiday", or one that primarily exists for commercial purposes, rather than a holiday simply set aside to celebrate the loved ones in our life.

  

  I happen to think that Mr. Hall was just one smart Nebraska kid! But I digress....

Fast forward 100 years to 2013, the Hallmark Card company still calls Kansas City home and the "BBQ Capital of the World" now attracts some of this nation's largest agriculture conventions and shows.

I recently attended the AG CONNECT Expo and Summit, a global trade show that features the latest innovations and technologies in agribusiness products and services. Along with my co-national executive coordinator and filmmaker/producer of the Great American Wheat Harvest (GAWH) documentary film, we hosted a V.I.P. Breakfast Reception, where our sponsors and custom harvester "rockstars" had a chance to speak about their participation in the film to other attendees:

Barry Nelson, manager of media relations for John Deere Ag and Turf Division, addresses Great American Wheat Harvest V.I.P. breakfast reception attendees.

 We debuted our NEW trailer:

and attended many coinciding functions of the U.S. Custom Harvesters national convention,  including a concert of the Canadian-born, now U.S.-residing country music group, High Valley:

From L to R: GAWH National Executive Coordinators, Melody Dobson and Jody Lamp; High Valley lead singer, Brad Rempel; GAWH filmmaker and producer, Conrad Weaver; High Valley's Curtis and Bryan Rempel.

 

And on the eighth day, God made a ......... 

While many, okay..... a few..... of my passions in life, including my faith, family and career, go beyond my love for my Nebraska Huskers, I was pleasantly surprised the week after returning from Ag Connect that wearing my Husker "bling" to my podiatrist appointment would incite an agriculture advocacy conversation.  

Sidebar: Amongst other things....20+ years of choosing "style" over "sensibility" in the shoe department has done a number of my wheels....I will eventually need a complete overhaul! But I digress.....

It was just a few days after the Dodge Ram,  "So, God Made A Farmer" commercial aired during the Super Bowl. Even in your own living room, you could sense that like you, the entire viewing audience must have stopped.....took pause.....and listened again to that famous radio voice of  Paul Harvey's, say...."So God Made A Farmer."

"So, you like football?" my podiatrist asked, upon noticing my jewelry. "I see you like the Huskers. Did you watch the Super Bowl?"

"Yes, I do and yes, I did!" I answered. "But I didn't watch the Super Bowl for the teams that played...I watched for the commercials."

My podiatrist ensued with barrage of  comments:

"Oh! Did you see that 'So, God Made A Farmer commercial?!

"Wasn't that awesome!

I talked to a friend of mine and told him, 'Can you believe that there are people watching this commercial right now, who don't even realize where their food comes from.'"

"Yes, I know," I said. "Hard to believe...but it's true!"

Dodge agreed to donate up to $1 million to the FFA Foundation based on its YouTube views. In less than five days, the video surpassed 10 million views, allowing Dodge to donate the full $1 million.

A Love Thing

I love all of agriculture....from the farmers that grow our grains and vegetables to the ranchers that raise our protein. I'm fortunate to have grown up in a state and live in a part of the country now where I am still amongst those who have a direct connection to those who produce and harvest their foods. As I travel and continue to build my social media presence, I know and become increasingly aware of the disconnect that continues to separate the urban vs. rural, ag vs. non-ag, city vs. rural, organic vs. conventional.....it's beyond alarming to hear our U.S. President and Secretary of Agriculture talk about the possibility of sequestration and across the board budget cuts, that would include furloughs of necessary USDA inspectors to ensuring that the nation's commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is correctly labeled and packaged.

The furloughs would force meat and poultry plants to close during that time. As the largest component of the U.S. agricultural economy, closing the meat and poultry businesses as contemplated by the Secretary would, according to USDA, cause production losses of $10 billion, cost company employees more than $400 million in lost wages, and impose untold losses on the more than one million livestock and poultry producers in this country. In a letter from J. Patrick Boyle, president and CEO of the American Meat Institute, Boyle sites these facts and asks President Obama in the event of sequestration, that the USDA meat and poultry inspectors not be furloughed so that the Secretary of Agriculture can fulfill his statutory obligations.

I know I may never have an audience as large as the State of Union or Super Bowl viewing public, but what I do know, is that even through my career as a pr/marketing professional, I can be an ambassador for agriculture and part of collective voice of truth for the industry.  

Through groups like the American Agri- Women (member of both the Western Nebraska and Montana Agri-Women);  the National Agri-Marketing Association (a proud NEW member of the Cornhusker Chapter) and projects like the Great American Wheat Harvest documentary film.....I can do what I love....advocate for agriculture....and end my work days knowing that my talents and abilities were used to help share information to increase knowledge for generations to come.