ARA Recognizes Toby Hlavinka with Distinguished Service Award

The Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) recognized Toby M. Hlavinka, president and CEO of American Plant Food (APF), with the ARA Distinguished Service Award during the ARA Conference & Expo in front of more than 620 ag retail industry professionals.

“Toby has set the bar in his role as ARAPAC Committee chair,” says ARA President and CEO Daren Coppock. “He has been an enthusiastic supporter of our Political Action Committee which provides a vital tool to advance our advocacy efforts."

"Beyond his direct service to ARA, American Plant Food under his leadership also set the standard for how to be prepared for and respond to an emergency situation. Through the way they handled direct response to the incident, communication with first responders and the community and safety compliance preparation with the help of ResponsibleAg, APF very effectively mitigated what could have been a serious incident.”

Nominated by peers and selected by the ARA Executive Committee, the ARA Distinguished Service Award honors individual members of the association working to make the industry better for everyone as they exceed the traditional responsibility of supporting the ag retail industry. Hlavinka completes his second three-year term on the ARA Board of Directors at the end of the year.

American Plant Food was founded in 1964 in Houston, Texas, on a simple premise: to help growers everywhere get the most from their soil with high-quality fertilizer blends and services. Sensing opportunities for better soil health, APF became early adopters of synthetic blending and added in-house “dirt doctors” to analyze soil samples and help educate growers.

Learn more about the ARA Conference & Expo on the website or on ARA’s social media.

(Photo credit: Lensology Photography & Videography)