“Plan the work. Work the plan.” This is the saying longtime okPORK office administrator, Donna Jackson, repeated many times over the years to keep us as a team motivated when things got tense or overwhelming.
We have generally worked on an okPORK strategic plan once every five years. On January 30 and 31 of this year, the okPORK staff gathered with the board, and investors to work on the next iteration of the strategic plan. The approach was a bit different in that instead of working on a plan that covers five years, we will now be reviewing the strategic plan every 18 to 24 months.
“The issues facing the pork industry are changing more rapidly now than ever before,” said Roy Lee Lindsey, okPORK executive director. “We’ve realized that only planning every five years does not let us address these issues in a timely manner. Having a shorter timeframe for reviewing our plan will help us address the needs of our members and investors quickly.”
The process actually began months before January. okPORK worked with Matt Sutton-Vermuelen and Sam Wildman from the Context Group to survey our members and investors. These surveys gave the process facilitators a look into current industry needs and how we at okPORK are addressing them. The Context Group shared the results with the board and investors over two webinars and a summary document prior to the January meeting.
Sutton-Vermuelen began the planning meeting by encouraging us to begin with the end in mind and focus on where okPORK needs to go in the future and not get hung up on where the industry and organization has been.
After much discussion and collaboration, the group established four areas of work that should lead our work strategy: image enhancement, workforce development at all levels, foreign animal disease preparedness, and freedom to operate
“I appreciate having this clear direction from people who are on the front lines of raising pigs, have provided direction to okPORK for many years and provide the resources we use through the Checkoff and voluntary support,” said Nikki Snider, okPORK director of marketing and communications. “It’s important that we are using those resources in ways that move the industry forward. As a staff we will work to make sure our activities align with these key strategies.”
We as a staff are working to make sure all our work fits into one of the four areas developed in this new strategic plan. We will continue to update you as a membership about progress we are making in each area.
There are ways you as a pig farmer can support okPORK’s efforts. Currently Rob Richard, okPORK ex-officio board member and national account leader with DNA genetics is heading up a producer taskforce to work on the new initiative of workforce development.
“In this taskforce, we will work to fully understand the options out there to reach non-college bound young adults,” Richard said. “We will be looking at high school agriculture education programs, career tech centers across the state, and veterans’ programs.”
If you are interested in serving on this producer-lead taskforce, please let us know. And we always welcome input about okPORK’s work so we can serve our members well. Feel free to contact us anytime and we’ll keep you updated on our work
