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2011 ABA Convention: 70 Years of Enriching Bodies & Lives
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 The 2011 ABA Convention, "Enriching Bodies and Lives," March 26-30, 2011, at the J.W. Marriott San Antonio Hill Country, is dedicated to celebrating the 70th anniversary of the enrichment of flour and bringing attention to this important historic landmark for the baking industry. Hotel room cut-off extended to March 4, book your room now!
2011 ABA Convention Quick Links:
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ABA Website Poll Winner: Walmart's Lee Scott
Question: Which convention speaker are you most excited to hear?
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Colleen Geib Joins ABA Team
 On March 1, Colleen Gieb assumed the role of executive assistant to the senior vice president of government relations. Gieb comes to ABA from Ernst & Young, where she has worked in a variety of roles including supporting a team of five lobbyists. She also interned on Capitol Hill while attending John Carroll University. |
ABA and 89 other groups urged Congressional leadership to let the refundable Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) expire and to resist calls for spending on infrastructure for conventional biofuels. VEETC is a 45-cent-per-gallon federal tax credit for fuel blenders that purchase and blend ethanol with gasoline.
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As part of ABA's efforts with the Industry Hours of Service (HOS) Coalition, 23 Senators have signed a letter to Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Ray LaHood. Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) sponsored the letter which outlines key concerns including productivity loss and burdensome cost implications for industry if the HOS proposal was finalized as written [Read the letter here]. The coalition has learned that Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) will be sending his own letter to DOT. Similar efforts within the House of Representatives produced a bi-partisan letter from 122 representatives with efforts led by Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA). [Read the letter here] House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-FL) and Subcommittee Chairman John Duncan (R-TN) are expected to send a letter to Secretary LaHood as well. ABA's Distribution Task Force is finalizing comments to be submitted on March 4. Additionally, ABA is working with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to include bakers' concerns in the broader industry letter. The combination of strong industry and congressional comments to DOT should impact the outcome of the final rule. For more information, contact ABA Senior Vice President, Government Relations & Public Affairs Lee Sanders. |
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 Have questions about soaring ingredient costs? Need answers on what is driving the commodity markets? If so, sign up to receive ABA's Eye on the Market Daily Updates. These daily updates include:
- USDA and Market Updates from FC Stone
- Daily Commodity Reports by Trilateral, Inc.
- Political, policy and other news that impacts the market
ABA has made it simple to sign up to receive these daily reports. You can sign up online (CLICK HERE) or contact Cory Martin, ABA Senior Manager of Government Relations, at (202) 789-0300 or cmartin@americanbakers.org. |
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California Includes Acrylamide on Prop 65 List & New Acrylamide Study
Last week California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) added acrylamide to its Proposition 65 list. The listing of acrylamide was effective Feb. 25. OEHHA's final rulemaking package has been submitted to the Office of Administrative Law for approval, and a final decision is expected in the near future. Read the notice on their site.About a year ago OEHHA published its Notice of Intent to list acrylamide and its proposed rule identifying a proposed Maximum Allowable Dose Level for acrylamide. ABA joined GMA and other food organizations to provide comments back to OEHHA. The comments did not support OEHHA's listing acrylamide for purposes of Prop 65. However, the comments did support OEHHA's proposal of a dosing level for acrylamide as it provides a safe harbor of 12 months for producers to evaluate their products against the proposed exposure level. The National Toxicology Program released a study, "NTP Technical Report on the Toxicology and Carcinogenesis Studies of Acrylamide (CAS NO. 79-06-1) in F344/N Rats and B6C3f1 Mice (Drinking Water Study)," and is scheduled for review during the April 5 NTP Technical Reports Panel meeting in North Carolina. The study may be found on the NTP Web site. |
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| What is ABA? Who does ABA represent?
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700
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The American Bakers Association (ABA) advocates on behalf of over 700 baking facilities and their suppliers.
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$70B | The baking industry generates more than $70 billion in economic activity annually.
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500,000 |
The baking industry employs close to half a million highly skilled people. |
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It was our pleasure to bring this message to you from the American Bakers Association. Please contact us if you have comments or suggestions.
If you would like to be removed from the ABA What's New e-mail sent to ABA members each week, please make your request to Margaret Collins or call 202-789-0300.
Have a great day!
ABA Membership & Communications Department
Karin Soyster Fitzgerald, CMP, CAE - Vice President, Membership Services
Kelly Kotche - Director, Membership and Communications
Margaret Collins - Membership Services & Web site Coordinator
American Bakers Association
1300 I Street, NW, Suite 700 West
Washington, DC 20005
202-789-0300 phone
202-898-1164 fax
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5%
Penton Media and Sosland Publishing Company will join forces with All Things Baking (ATB) as Official Media Sponsors. These two major publishers serving the retail, wholesale and related baking industries entered into agreements with RBA, ABA and BEMA last week as part of a cooperative effort to market the inaugural event. 
