The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking nominations for the Paper and Packaging Board to fill two additional member seats with terms beginning on Jan. 1, 2025. Nomination applications are due by July 18, 2024.
The board is seeking nominees for two open seats in the following regions: one from the South for a one-year term ending on Dec. 31, 2025, and one importer for a two-year term ending on Dec. 31, 2026. The board is opening the nomination process again because these additional board seats became available after its nomination period ended on May 24, 2024.
The U.S. South Region consists of Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
Nominees must manufacture or import 100,000 short tons or more of paper and paper-based packaging in a marketing year. The eight-member board consists of seven manufacturers from two regions and one importer. More information about the board is available on the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Paper and Packaging Board webpage and on the board’s website at paperandpackaging.org.
For more information or to receive a nomination form, contact the Paper and Packaging Board at (703) 935-5386 or email nominations@paperandpackaging.org with questions. You may also contact Samantha Mareno, USDA Marketing Specialist, at (720) 827-4907 or email samantha.mareno@usada.gov for additional information.
Since 1966, Congress has authorized the development of industry-funded research and promotion boards to provide a framework for agricultural industries to pool their resources and combine efforts to develop new markets, strengthen existing markets and conduct important research and promotion activities. AMS provides oversight of 22 boards, paid for by industry assessments, which helps ensure fiscal accountability and program integrity.
AMS policy is that diversity of the boards, councils and committees it oversees should reflect the diversity of their industries in terms of the experience of members, methods of production and distribution, marketing strategies, and other distinguishing factors, including but not limited to individuals from historically underserved communities, that will bring different perspectives and ideas to the table. Throughout the full nomination process, the industry must conduct extensive outreach, paying particular attention to reaching underserved communities, and consider the diversity of the population served and the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the members to serve a diverse population.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender