Agribusiness Leader of the Year Winner


NAMA Marketer of the Year Winner
2001 AMC Home

Emmett Barker, president and chief staff executive (CSE) of the Equipment Manufacturers Institute (EMI), has been named Agribusiness Leader of the Year by the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA). Barker will be honored at the Opening General Session of the 2001 Agri-Marketing Conference and Trade Show held April 11-13 in Denver, Colo.
The Agribusiness Leader of the Year award is NAMA's newest and highest honor. NAMA announced last fall that the National Award for Agricultural Excellence (NAAE) would be blended with the Ag Marketer of the Year award to create the Agribusiness Leader of the Year award. The award is designed to honor an outstanding leader in agribusiness, education, government service, or other agribusiness related areas.

Barker became chief staff executive of the Farm and Industrial Equipment Institute in 1973. Shortly after assuming his position, he was appointed by Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz to be among a seven-person delegation to the Soviet Union for the purpose of creating more information and technology exchanges regarding agriculture.

The Institute, under Barker's leadership, was significantly reorganized during the '70s and '80s to reflect the tumultuous changes taking place in the equipment industries. New divisions were created, new product groups were organized, and technical and statistical programs were oriented to meet the growing global needs of a rapidly shrinking base of equipment manufacturers. In 1990, the major construction equipment manufacturers affiliated with the Institute and the name was changed from the Farm and Industrial Equipment Institute to the Equipment Manufacturers Institute.

During his business career, Barker has been involved in leadership roles in many organizations and government sponsored projects. He is a past chairman of the board of trustees for the Farm Foundation, founding chairman of the Ag Electronics Association, served as chairman of the National Association of Manufacturers Associations Council, was the first Chairman of the Ag Day Foundation, an early volunteer leader of the "Food, Land and People" project, appointed to the USDA "Task Force on Air Quality Research" committee, post chairman of the Ag Relations Council (ARC), active in FFA support programs and has been member of NAMA since 1962.

EMI is one of the oldest manufacturer's trade associations in the U.S., having been organized in 1894. Under Barker's leadership, business plans that developed over the 27 years of his tenure have today placed EMI in it strongest financial position in 107 years. Today, the Institute consists of 150 active member companies and 124 associate companies. It functions with 26 councils, over 70 committees, and holds over 250 industry meetings each year.
At the present time, Barker has served in the role of president and chief staff executive of a major manufacturers association longer than any currently active CSE.