Taking care of business: following SSGA merger, Sue Schmitt signs off

Any writer will tell you: It helps to have a proofreader with a keen eye. For Bruce Abbe, Sue Schmitt was that person for the Midwest Shippers Association (MSA).

“I helped Bruce with his communications and looking at things from a member’s point of view so that we sounded right and we’re getting our point across,” she says. “Somebody once asked me if I was a teacher. I have a knack for finding grammatical errors.”

Schmitt recently departed her position as MSA’s executive assistant following a merger with the Northern Food Grade Soybean Association to form the Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance (SSGA). She was the company’s jack-of-all-trades for eight years, handling memberships, registrations and helping to grow and coordinate what is now known as the U.S. Soy Global Trade Exchange and Specialty Grains Conference.

“I was the number one contact,” she says. “When people called or sent an email, I was the first one they talked to. I liked talking with people, getting our goals across and taking care of business. There was never a dull a moment.”

Former MSA President and CEO Bruce Abbe says Schmitt was vital to helping to build the U.S. Soy Global Trade Exchange and Specialty Grains Conference, which began in 2002, into an international tradeshow. When Schmitt worked on her first Conference in 2011, only a few hundred buyers attended. The joint SSGA/USSEC Conference has now grown to around 800 attendees.

“Sue’s been a mainstay support provider for me for a number of years, in particular in work on the Conference,” says Abbe, a strategic advisor for trade and transportation with SSGA. “She had considerable experience in conference support and management when she first stepped in to help me out several years back, and stayed on.”

Schmitt says one of her favorite programs during her tenure at MSA was working with an advertising co-op program offered to members.

“That allowed them to advertise on more of a level than they could afford, or didn’t have the opportunity to show their information,” she says. “We really helped members who didn’t have large budgets.”

Prior to joining MSA, Schmitt says she didn’t fully appreciate the business instincts needed to excel in agriculture.

“Generally, people think Mr. Farmer is out just there growing crops and they take it to a grain elevator,” she says. “People don’t realize the entrepreneurial instincts of farmers. It was very informative and eye-opening.”

Schmitt isn’t retiring, but hopes to spend more time with her five grandchildren.

“My house needs to be cleaned, but I don’t want to do that,” she says, laughing. “I’m still keeping busy and wish everyone well with the new organization.”