Learning And Growing Together: Three USGC China Staff Recognized For Five Years Of Service

To say working in China for the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) can be difficult at times would be an understatement, but a triad of staff working together there has helped steer the organization’s activities and engagements in even the most complex times.

The Council recognized Director Bryan Lohmar, Program Assistant Raisy Liu and Accountant Vivien Liu for five years of service during its 15th International Marketing Conference and 58th Annual Membership Meeting last month.

“What I enjoy the most is the opportunity to engage with a wide swath of agricultural specialists both inside and outside China,” Lohmar said. “I have learned a lot about not only China, but also U.S. and global agriculture in the last five years.”

He joined the Council in 2012 after a recruiter initially contacted his wife about the director position. He was already working in China as the director of economic research for Bunge China and had previously worked as an economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (USDA’s ERS). He recalled one of his favorite activities thus far at the Council was presenting together with a former ERS colleague, Fred Gale, at both the Council’s Omaha meeting in 2014 and the 2016 Ag Outlook Forum.

“Bryan has enriched my understanding, challenged some assumptions and helped make sense of a very complex and intricate market,” said Tom Sleight, USGC president and chief executive officer. “The past five years in China have been wildly challenging, yet Bryan has been the steady presence that has helped USGC programs grow and, most importantly, evolve.”

Raisy Liu started work shortly before Lohmar as a temporary employee covering another staff member’s maternity leave. Lohmar hired her on permanently as a receptionist and later promoted her to program assistant. In her position, she now works on market data analysis, assists with conferences and travel arrangements and undertakes office management duties. She also worked on the payment for testing DDGS samples as part of the work to register DDGS in China, which she was proud was reported on in the United States.

“It gives me great confidence knowing Raisy is one of the faces of the Council with our partners in China, as well as with consultants, teams and members as they pass through China,” Sleight said. “We will be needing her expertise and outlook as the agenda in China gets more complicated, and her bright outlook will help us keep focus on the big picture of our robust engagement there.”

Lohmar also hired Vivien Liu as an accountant during the first few months of his directorship. She said she applied for the accountant position because the Council’s name sounded earthy and interesting. She also said she has benefited greatly from meeting with other members of the Council’s global accounting staff during an accountant training meeting in May 2016 in Washington, D.C.

“I have high esteem for our accounting staff like Vivien, who preserve our reputation as good stewards of USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service and membership financial support, a key part of the global USGC brand,” Sleight said. “Vivien is a key contributor to the success of the Council’s China program.”

All three of these staff members started with the Council in 2012, but the Council formally recognizes staff once a year for reaching milestone anniversaries. So while they received official recognition at the membership meeting in February 2018, the trio will all celebrate six years with the Council this spring and early summer.

“Both Vivien and Raisy have been a pleasure to work with over the last few years, despite some stressful times in the office and the trade relationship with China,” Lohmar said. “We have all learned our respective jobs together. This can be stressful, but their personalities and dedication as well as understanding that we are all figuring things out as we go along helped our office manage its way through even more transitions and challenges, and have been greatly appreciated.”