The American Agricultural Editors' Association Board of Directors has unanimously approved the selection of the Association Services Group as new management team for our organization effective August 1.
The selection comes after a fast-paced but thorough four-month executive search process led by the AAEA Executive Search Committee with the guidance of Steve Drake of the SCD Group. Current AAEA Executive Director Den Gardner announced in February he would retire from the position effective July 31, 2016.
"We are really excited about this selection and about working with ASG to help our organization as it moves toward our 100th anniversary," said Holly Martin, the AAEA Search Committee chair and editor of High Plains Journal.
Samantha Kilgore will serve as the AAEA executive director. Kilgore holds a bachelor's of science degree in agricultural communications from the University of Georgia. She joined ASG in 2011 as an intern and currently serves executive director of the Georgia Watermelon Association and the Georgia Self-Storage Association. "As an agricultural communications graduate from the University of Georgia, I couldn't be more excited that ASG has been selected to serve as the management partner for the AAEA," Kilgore said. "I am looking forward to working alongside this board and membership of ag communicators."
The search process resulted in proposals from 21 management firms. The committee reviewed and analyzed 10 semifinalists and individually ranked the firms as their 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th choices. Using this ranking system, the committee developed their top 3 candidates. Each of the top 3 were invited to meet with the search committee on June 14-15. Following those interviews, the committee unanimously recommended ASG to the AAEA board. In a special AAEA board conference call June 16, the board unanimously approved the selection of ASG as their new management firm.
"AAEA deeply values the long relationship it has had with Den Gardner and the Gardner & Gardner team who has done so much to help AAEA over the last 16 years. We are truly grateful to their work," said Elaine Shein, AAEA president and DTN/Progressive Farmer associate managing editor. "And, yet, we are excited and looking forward to the work of Samantha and the incoming ASG team."