Each day, department employees work to better the state of agriculture in North Carolina. Too often, these employees get overlooked for their accomplishments. Recently, however, two employees in our International Marketing Section were recognized for their work promoting N.C. agricultural exports.
NCDA&CS international trade specialist Cathy Ma took home three awards at the annual SUSTA meeting in Louisiana.
Cathy Ma, international trade specialist, swept all the categories for which she was nominated at the Southern United States Trade Association annual meeting. Ma won for Most Companies Recruited for an Inbound Trade Mission, Most New Companies for Overseas Generic Event and Activity Manager of the Year for 2011. In addition to these awards, Ma also was named the 2011 Employee of the Year by the department.
In a separate event, Peter Thornton, assistant director for international marketing, was recognized for his efforts assisting local companies with exporting. The award was presented to Thornton by the N.C. Small Business and Technology Development Center in a private ceremony held in April.
The department has nearly 2,000 employees working across the state to help N.C. agriculture and agribusinesses prosper. Check out our Faces in the Field, Field Trip and employee of the month profiles to learn more about some of our other exceptional employees.