I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I joined The National Provisioner team five months ago, coming from the telecommunications industry with 25 years of marketing and engineering experience. You might think those industries are very different, but in many ways, they share similar challenges and opportunities. The world looks to both these industries to serve its people everyday, no matter who or where — people cannot physically live without protein, nor can they spiritually live without communications. Both industries are growing through changes and challenges in what has been a very up and down cycle. One big difference, however, is how change comes about. In the telecommunications industry, the driver is technology advancement, which as we all know has continuously outpaced innovation. In our protein industry, technology is a tool not a driver, thus we must continuously innovate processes, product delivery/packaging, raw materials and our safety. This, I believe, is more challenging and demands more creativity.

I am excited to work with our team to bring continuous improvements to our magazine and Web site. Our strength has been, and will continue to be, visiting you at your plants, listening to your successes and struggles and nurturing these stories into information our entire audience can use in both of our media vehicles. In addition, you will read more articles from experts in the industry. We have reached out more proactively to industry experts, including regulators, research foundations and highly respected experts, to partner with them to bring new ideas and solutions in areas important to you.

One such area is our new Podcast Series on the Web site. If you have not listened to the various podcasts we have running on www.provisoneronline.com, you might want to start, as they discuss myriad topics such as plant design/efficiency, animal welfare and handling, food safety and labor issues.

We know you are doing more with less, and in that vein we are trying to deliver information to you in a format convenient for you, whether it is at your office, on your computer, or, if you prefer, on your mobile device. You don’t have to have an iPod to listen to a podcast — your computer, mobile phone or any mp3 player should handle those, giving you the flexibility to listen on the road as well as at home or in the office. We send a weekly e-Newsletter that highlights the week’s most impactful news, we update our Web site daily, you can search our suppliers directory online, listen to a Webinar (our first one launches this month, on DAF oil recovery) or download a white paper. We hope these formats and vehicles help you manage your time more efficiently without sacrificing your ability to get the information you need. If you are not familiar with these resources please check out our Web site atwww.provisoneronline.com.

Finally I would like to say thanks to the entire community, readers, Web visitors and advertisers (your vendors) for helpful ideas, suggestions and support to develop the best meat, poultry and seafood magazine and Web site possible. We count on our readers and our advertisers as true partners in product development. We want to continue to hear from you, so please send us an email or give us a call — we are here to serve you!

Wishing you all the success in 2009!