2001 Agribusiness Leader of the Year Emmett Barker Equipment Manufacturers Institute.

Emmett Barker, president and chief staff executive (CSE) of the Equipment Manufacturers Institute (EMI), has been named Agribusiness Leader of the Year by the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA). Barker was honored at the Opening General Session of the 2001 Agri-Marketing Conference and Trade Show held April 11-13 in Denver, Colo.

The Agribusiness Leader of the Year award is NAMA's newest and highest honor and is designed to honor an outstanding leader in agribusiness, education, government service, or other agribusiness related areas.

Barker became CSE of the Farm and Industrial Equipment Institute in 1973. Shortly after assuming his position, he was appointed by Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz to be among a seven-person delegation to the Soviet Union to create more information and technology exchanges regarding agriculture.

The Institute, under Barker's leadership, was significantly reorganized during the `70s and `80s to reflect the tumultuous changes taking place in the equipment industries. New divisions were created, new product groups were organized, and technical and statistical programs were oriented to meet the growing global needs of a rapidly shrinking base of equipment manufacturers. In 1990, the major construction equipment manufacturers affiliated with the Institute and the name was changed from the Farm and Industrial Equipment Institute to the Equipment Manufacturers Institute.

During his business career, Barker has been involved in leadership roles in many organizations and government sponsored projects. He is a past chairman for the Farm Foundation, founding chairman of the Ag Electronics Association, served as chairman of the National Association of Manufacturers Associations Council, was the first Chairman of the Ag Day Foundation, an early volunteer leader of the "Food, Land and People" project, appointed to the USDA "Task Force on Air Quality Research" committee, post chairman of the Ag Relations Council (ARC), active in FFA support programs and has been member of NAMA since 1962.

EMI is one of the oldest manufacturer's trade associations in the U.S., having been organized in 1894. Under Barker's leadership, business plans that developed over the 27 years of his tenure have today placed EMI in it strongest financial position in 107 years.