The Gateway NAMA board met on Thursday, April 10, to discuss future activities, strategy and the objective of the Gateway Chapter.

Based on our meeting, a couple of new things are going to happen in the near term.

• Our joint meeting relationship with St. Louis Agribusiness Club is going to be put on hold. We want to build Gateway NAMA’s “brand identity” separately for a while. Gateway NAMA has valued the relationship and we hope opportunities to continue to collaborate will still be available, but for now we want to try to re-establish our group.
• Member survey. Look for a Gateway NAMA e-mail survey in late April following the NAMA Conference. We want to get a better idea of what members want out of their Gateway Chapter experience. The board is striving to provide a better value to members.
• Networking Happy Hour – Thursday, May 29, from 5:3-7:30 p.m. Location is TBD, but it will probably be somewhere in the central corridor. Members are free and can bring a non-member guest for $5. Drinks on the house for the first hour. We will talk briefly about the member survey result, but mostly this is just for fun.
• Cardinals Game – We’re also looking into a party box for a July Cardinals game. A limited number of Gateway Chapter-subsidized tickets will be available. We hope to get a representative from the Cardinal’s marketing department to talk to the group before the game.

So we’re doing some new things to get members involved and rev up the opportunities for learning, networking and fun. I hope you will join us.

Next meeting is April 15th.

When: Tuesday, April 15th – Luncheon Meeting and Presentation 11:30 a.m. – Networking and Product Sampling, 12-1:30 p.m. – Meal/Program. Also, a private and complimentary tour(limited to 25 individuals) will be offered from 1:45 – 2:45 p.m. See details below.

Where: Location change for this month only…Anheuser-Busch Headquarters, Corporate Theatre (2nd Floor), 1 Busch Place, St. Louis, MO. Arriving to the main entrance, turn into
the visitor lot in front of the building south of Lynch, west of Broadway. Security will direct visitors to proper parking areas. Everyone must enter through the main lobby of the Corporate Headquarters to sign-in and to acquire a name badge. PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY.

What: Quality Products Start with Quality Ingredients…Anheuser-Busch has been the leader of the U.S. brewing industry for more than 50 years and brews the world’s largest-selling beers, Budweiser and Bud Light. Busch Agricultural Resources is the agricultural unit of Anheuser-Busch Companies, and supplies the malted barley, hops and rice used in the brewing of Anheuser-Busch beers. Major areas of operation include: malting barley; hops contracting and production; rice contracting, milling, and
marketing; agricultural research in barley, rice, and hops; and a grain/seed operation network for the production, purchasing, processing, and storage of malting barley and seed. The company also supports research in an effort to control diseases affecting barley, rice, and hops.

Speaker: Steve Malin, Vice President, Anheuser Busch Raw Materials

Sponsor: Anheuser-Busch, where making friends is our business. Anheuser-Busch operates 12 breweries in the United States, 14 in China and one in the United Kingdom.
Anheuser-Busch’s operations and resources are focused on adding to life’s enjoyment not only through the responsible consumption of beer by adults, but through theme park entertainment and packaging. In the United States, the company holds a 48.5 percent share of U.S. beer sales. Worldwide, Anheuser Busch’s beer sales volume was 128.4 million barrels in 2007. The St. Louis-based company’s subsidiaries include one of the largest U.S. manufacturers of aluminum beverage containers and one of the world’s
largest recyclers of aluminum beverage cans. Anheuser-Busch also has interests in malt production, rice milling, real estate development, turf farming, metalized and paper label printing, bottle production and transportation services. View more details at their website – http://www.anheuser-busch.com/index.html

RSVP: Prior to April 4th, Email your meal and tour reservation to: gatewaynama@yahoo.com or call (314)746-1907. No-shows will be invoiced. Please direct any questions to: Dean Dittmar at ddittmar@stlouisagclub.org or 618/257-8272.