3 minute read
SESSION 5: Andy Curliss
Playbooks, Strategies and Tactics of Those Who Oppose Modern Agriculture Andy Curliss
Andy Curliss, MBA,CAE SAS Institute
Bio
Andy Curliss is National Director of Strategic Initiatives at SAS, the global leader in advanced analytics. In his role, Andy crafts and executes strategies and solutions in support of SAS customers across the United States and serves as an adviser to company leadership. SAS is based in Cary, North Carolina, with 13,000 worldwide employees.
Prior to joining SAS, Andy was a leader in the pork industry, directing a broad range of global external and government affairs initiatives for Smithfield Foods and serving as CEO of the North Carolina Pork Council, the statewide professional and trade association of pork producers. The National Pork Board recognized Andy in 2018 with its award of appreciation for his leadership and service to the nation’s pork industry.
He also previously launched and led a public affairs and strategic communications division for a leading business-to-business marketing and communications agency, working with C-suite clients on business management and public policy issues.
For two decades prior to those roles, Andy was a journalist at The News & Observer (The N&O) of Raleigh, holding positions that focused on public policy and politics; state and local governments; and on producing high impact, revelatory reporting as an investigative reporter. His work at The N&O helped to shape numerous state and local public policies and laws, and he was recognized with more than two dozen national, regional and statewide awards, including as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He was recognized multiple times with the highest annual honors given by the McClatchy Newspaper Co. and by the North Carolina Press Association.
In 2015, Andy was selected for a China fellowship at the East-West Center, traveling widely in China to meet with business, government and university leaders, with a particular focus on the innovative threat China poses to the U.S. He was a Japan Fellow at the International Center for Journalists in 2014. More recently, he participated in multi week study trips to Italy and Brazil that focused broadly on food and agricultural systems. Andy has been a frequent speaker and presenter at national and international conferences and meetings, and he gave the Thomas Jefferson Scholars Distinguished Lecture at NC State University in 2018.
In 2019, Andy was recognized as the Outstanding Graduate Student for all graduate-level programs at East Carolina University, where he earned his MBA with an added concentration in marketing. A native of Ohio, he earned a BA in Communications at The University of Toledo, where he was editor-in-chief of the student newspaper and inducted Omicron Delta Kappa.
Andy has volunteered in a variety of board positions and roles, including at NC State University, N.C. A&T State University, the N.C. Biotechnology Center and with several nonprofit foundations. He has served as a youth coach in sports and academic settings, including for teams of students participating in the N.C. Science Olympiad competitions at the regional and state levels.
Abstract
Well-funded outside forces are pressuring modern agricultural producers and operators in an increasingly coordinated fashion, drawing upon a range of strategies and tactics that are aimed at external disruption. A framework is provided in this talk that outlines eight distinct areas of consideration that each are critical for producers and operators to understand and consider in evaluating the external landscape. The framework provided allows for producers and operators to evaluate and consider levels of and interest in external engagement. Respecting the traditional “firm view” framework of a business, focusing primarily on employees, suppliers, customers and finance/banking relationships, remains a primary concern of producers and operators. It is just as important for producers and operators to utilize an external framework as outlined in considering external advocacy and engagement.