AMBA announces several new leadership appointments
The American Malting Barley Association (AMBA), a trade organization representing end users of malting barley including maltsters, brewers, and distillers, has announced several new leadership appointments to the committees that serve the association. Jason McCann, Senior Director of Quality for RahrBSG in Shakopee, MN has been named the chair of the Technical Committee. He received a B.S. Degree in Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2000. He started working in the malt industry in 2007 and has held positions in the laboratory, production, plant supervision, food safety, technical solutions, and quality. Jason is a member of the Master Brewers Association of the Americas, American Society of Brewing Chemists (Research Council), American Malting Barley Association (Technical Committee), US Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative (Steering Committee), Brewing and Malting Barley Research Institute (Board of Directors), and Prairie Recommending Committee for Oat and Barley. The Technical Committee meets bi-annually. Their most notable roles are to review new barley lines for adoption, make recommendations for the annual variety list, and review research grant proposals. Nicole Zahradka, U.S. director of Agriculture for Anheuser Busch, has been named the chair of the Agricultural Policy Committee. She grew up on a farm in northeast North Dakota and currently lives on the family farm near Pisek, North Dakota with her husband Scott and two sons Jase and Graham. They raise barley, wheat, canola, corn and soybeans. Zahradka is an NDSU graduate with a B.S. in Crop and Weed Sciences and Plant Protection. She has worked at Anheuser Busch for 16 years, starting as a field agronomist and working through various roles until the one she holds currently. Nicole enjoys working with barley, rice and hops farmers to grow the highest quality ingredients for their beers. She feels every farm is unique and she appreciates their hard work and dedication to grow the crops Anheuser Busch needs. Zahradka has long served on the National Barley Growers Association Executive Committee. The Agricultural Policy Committee works to address risks across the entire supply chain. This includes working with state and national barley grower organizations on programs and policies that keep barley competitive with other crops and to ensure that regulations governing the handling and processing of malting barley align with current industry practices.
Eli Kolodny, Technical Director at Odell Brewing Company in Fort Collins, CO, has been named the chair of the Finance Committee. Eli has held various production roles at Odell for over 16 years. Currently he sits on the Leadership Team and helps strategically steer the overall business while also managing the Brewhouse, Cellar, and Quality Teams. His industry involvement outside of Odell includes the Hop Quality Group, the American Society of Brewing Chemists, and the Master Brewers Association of the Americas. He holds a B.S. in Biochemistry from Colorado State University. The Finance Committee guides the work of the organization to ensure fiscal responsibility and accountability to the membership. They work directly with the president to develop and execute on an annual budget that primarily focuses on investment in barley improvement.
