MADISON — The 2017 PDPW Business Conference not only marked the organization’s 25th anniversary but also saw an unprecedented number of attendees, speakers, sessions and exhibitors – including four keynote speakers and the debut of a UW-Madison Dairy Research Stage. With nearly 2,000 in attendance and 39 states represented, dairy came together at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wis., Mar. 15-16, 2017 to take part in the event with their dairy producer peers and allied industry.
The two-day event kicked off with a press conference announcing a comprehensive one-stop-shop for professional development training, tracking and reporting. Powered by PDPW, Dairy AdvanCE™ is designed to help dairy professionals discover dairy trainings, keep track of continuing education credits, and report through one’s official transcript for use in business planning, financial meetings and showcasing professionalism to consultants, partners, and the community at large. Learn more at DairyAdvance.org.
Wednesday night’s evening dinner program and 25th anniversary celebration paid tribute to the founders of PDPW and those involved since the beginning. A highlight of the evening was the live auction of artist Larry Schultz’s “Faithfully Feeding the Future” – an oil painting created exclusively for this event. The original oil sold for $5,400, with all proceeds to benefit dairy programming for youth. Purchased for the PDPW office by a group of founders, former board members and other PDPW supporters, the painting is on display at PDPW headquarters in Juneau, Wis.
Before the closing session on Thursday, three new Board Members were announced: Andy Buttles, Lancaster Wis., Steven Orth, Cleveland, Wis. and Katy Schmidt of Fox Lake, Wis. will serve a three-year term as they join six other board members in the steering of PDPW programming and involvement in the dairy industry.
For more details about the 2017 PDPW Business Conference and to see the 25th Anniversary Celebration photo and video coverage, visit www.pdpw.org or follow the social media presence with #myPDPW.
The 2018 PDPW Business Conference “Dairying to Thrive” is set for March 14-15 at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wis.
Professional Dairy Producers (PDPW) is the nation’s largest dairy producer-led, grassroots organization of its kind, focusing on education, networking and professional development to shares ideas, solutions, resources and experiences that help dairy producers succeed.
— Professional Dairy Producers
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