FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 1, 2007
For more information contact:

Cindy Garretson-Weibel
Agribusiness Director
Wyoming Business Council
Office: 307.777.6589

Kim Porter
Leadership & Development Program Manager
Wyoming Business Council
Office: 307.777.6319

Wyoming L.E.A.D. announces Class 10 participants

CHEYENNE – Seventeen Wyoming men and women will compose Class 10 of the Wyoming Leadership Education and Development (L.E.A.D.) program, the state’s longest running adult education program.

According to Cindy Garretson-Weibel, Wyoming Business Council Agribusiness Director, the class will undergo an 18-month training program starting in October. The first seminar for the new class will take place Oct. 11-13 at the Ranch at Ucross. The seminar will include an orientation and will focus on communication skills.

L.E.A.D. assists adults involved in agriculture to become more effective leaders in community activities, agricultural issues and policies. L.E.A.D. is sponsored by the Business Council’s Agribusiness Division and the Wyoming Agricultural Leadership Council (WALC).

Brett Moniz, WALC president, says the new class of L.E.A.D. fellows was recently selected from a strong field of applicants. The finalists were chosen for their leadership potential, communication skills and commitment to agriculture. “We believe we have selected a superb group of people to participate in the L.E.A.D. program. Their local communities and the state of Wyoming will both benefit greatly from their participation in the program,” Moniz explains.

Wyoming L.E.A.D. Class 10 includes:

• Justin Byelich of Cheyenne
• Laura Dalles of Cheyenne
• Samantha Dyer of Casper
• Laura Fornstrom of Pine Bluffs
• Carla Hubbard of Ten Sleep
• Clint Jessen of Pine Bluffs
• Pak Landers of Cheyenne
• Monte Lerwick of Albin
• Gloria Mathis of Wheatland
• Scott McDonald of Cheyenne
• Kosha Olsen of Cheyenne
• Ron Pulley of Huntley
• Jennifer Reyes-Burr of Saratoga
• Erin Smith of Lusk
• Cheryl Summer of Buffalo
• Andrea Sun of Casper
• Dalin Winters of Burlington

Throughout the program, fellows will participate in 12 educational seminars in an effort to enhance their leadership skills and understanding of all aspects of agriculture and policy making. Ten seminars will take place in Wyoming, one will be in Washington, D.C. and an international study seminar will be held near the end of the program. The fellows will devote more than 55 days to the study seminars and special project assignments.

L.E.A.D. was initiated in 1984 with a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to establish a rural leadership program. Nine classes totaling 154 men and women have graduated from the L.E.A.D. program since its inception.

The mission of the Wyoming Business Council is to facilitate the economic growth of Wyoming. For more information, please visit the Web site at www.wyomingbusiness.org.

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