Pennsylvania Ag Connection - Farm Bureau Past Administrator Earns Founders Award

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Farm Bureau Past Administrator Earns Founders Award
Pennsylvania Ag Connection - 01/18/2019

Former Pennsylvania Farm Bureau (PFB) employee Dick Newpher, who began his career as a field representative in Clearfield County and rose through the ranks to the role of administrative secretary-treasurer, received the prestigious Founders Award during the American Farm Bureau Federation's (AFBF) 100th Annual Convention in New Orleans. Newpher moved on from PFB to AFBF, where he served for 12 years as the executive director of public policy and retired as executive vice president.

The Founders Award was established in January 2017 to recognize exemplary leadership, service or contributions to Farm Bureau by officers or employees of AFBF and state Farm Bureau organizations.

The Cumberland County resident reflected on his time with the organization.

"I saw the ad that said the Pennsylvania Farmers Association (changed name to Pennsylvania Farm Bureau in 1993) wanted a field representative. It fit perfect. I applied for the job. I got the job," said Dick Newpher. "Nothing bigger or better has ever happened in my life, except maybe my marriage, that created and controlled my life like the American Farm Bureau did."

Newpher had numerous accomplishments during his time with PFB and AFBF and was known for demonstrating a supportive management style focused on the betterment of grassroots members. Newpher also directed a titanic change at AFBF, overseeing the consolidation of offices in Chicago and Washington, D.C. to a single office in our nation's capital.

"Dick always had our farmer members in the back of his mind when he considered what the organization needed to do. This focus helped Farm Bureau reach its goals and he built on those accomplishments and took what he learned from Pennsylvania when he moved to AFBF," said PFB President Rick Ebert.

In 2011, PFB established an endowed scholarship in Newpher's name at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine.

Pennsylvania Farm Bureau nominated Newpher for the Founders Award. He was selected as the award's recipient by a national Farm Bureau committee.

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