Contact: Marti Pupillo
mpupillo@idfa.org
(202) 220-3535
(Washington, D.C. - October 22, 2010) The International Dairy Foods Association has named John P. Kelly to the position of manager of international affairs. In this role, Kelly will support IDFA's efforts on international trade and import and export issues. He'll also oversee the association's sweetener and trade committees.
Kelly comes to IDFA from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service, where he helped to manage and coordinate USDA's international technical assistance to enhance U.S. export opportunities, promote food security and support U.S. national security objectives. As an agricultural development specialist, he worked with the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Millennium Challenge Corporation and land-grant universities to help developing countries build their capacity for global trade. He also assisted in the coordination of interagency agricultural support for Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.
Prior to his work at USDA, Kelly was an energy market analyst for the Michigan Public Service Commission, where he was responsible for oversight of the wholesale electric and natural gas markets.
A graduate of Michigan State University, Kelly received a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the university's James Madison College, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing with a specialization in international business from the Eli Broad College of Business. While in school, Kelly studied abroad in Cluj, Romania; Istanbul, Turkey; and Brussels, Belgium.
Kelly also worked as an intern in the office of Scott Hummel, former chair of the Appropriations Committee for the Michigan House of Representatives. Kelly was raised on his family's dairy farm in Michigan.
"We're very pleased to have John join the IDFA team," said Clay Hough, IDFA senior group vice president and general counsel. "Global trade is a key growth area for the U.S. dairy industry, and IDFA will continue to focus attention on international issues that will help to open foreign markets for our dairy products."
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The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, D.C., represents the nation's dairy manufacturing and marketing industries and their suppliers, with a membership of 550 companies representing a $110-billion a year industry. IDFA is composed of three constituent organizations: the Milk Industry Foundation (MIF), the National Cheese Institute (NCI) and the International Ice Cream Association (IICA). IDFA's 220 dairy processing members run more than 600 plant operations, and range from large multi-national organizations to single-plant companies. Together they represent more than 85 percent of the milk, cultured products, cheese and frozen desserts produced and marketed in the United States.