On the first day of the Independent Professional Seed Association (IPSA) 33rd Annual Conference, Editor Alex Martin sat down Cat Ballard, executive director of IPSA. One thing that excited her this year? Meeting in person.
“Getting back in person is the most exciting thing that we’re all experiencing,” she says. “This is our first time to meet in two years, and we’ve had a really good turn out this year. I want to keep this momentum and keep that comradery.”
Ballard should be a familiar face to IPSA members. She previously worked with IPSA for a stint in marketing and communications, and she’s been thrilled to come back to work as executive director.
“This is my home,” Ballard says. “There’s no comparison to the people you have in the seed industry. I love being back at home with my people.”
Now, Ballard is facing a different ball game. One of her primary tasks is working on member engagement and member benefits.
“IPSA members are a very tight knit group,” she says. “My role is to create a family comradery with everyone in the membership. I want IPSA to be the best resource in every member’s pocket — if they need anything, I want them to call us and us to have another member ready for them to utilize.”
With that comes some creativity in identifying what members might need, including looking at getting a discount rate on freight fare as well as looking into IPSA member health insurance.
“I’d like to get this tight knit family even tighter,” she says.
Want to check out more of our interview? Check out Seed World’s live interview with Cat Ballard:
