Amanda's Job

United Dairymen of Idaho hired Amanda Gibson to direct international business development and I talked with her about the specifics of her job. "Our overall job is to grow demand for dairy products. The manager of business development and processor relations is a brand-new position that came about within the last month and I was hired to focus primarily on growing international demand for Idaho dairy. I will also work on domestic business development but my primary focus will be exports and developing export programs. We have 514 dairy farm families that ship their milk to 22 processors within the state of Idaho. That processed product, about 30% of it, is exported. It is critical that Idaho have involvement in the international front. What does processing mean? Idaho produces almost 14,000,000,000 pounds of fluid milk. That fluid milk is shipped to processors who convert it into products such as powdered milk, cheese, whey and butter among other items. Those products are used within the state of Idaho but are also exported internationally and across the United States. Derry represents 30% of the agriculture sector in the state of Idaho and it is our number one export in terms of dollars.

Amanda holds a master's degree in global business administration fromThunderbird School of Global Management.