The Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) on June 28 announced several staff promotions, effective July 1, 2021. Bryna Hautau will be promoted to Senior Director of Operations and Events; Hunter Carpenter to Senior Director of Public Policy; Melisa Augusto to Vice President of Communications and Marketing; and Donnie Taylor to Senior Vice President of Member Services and Corporate Relations.
Hautau has been with ARA for nine years, starting as an Administrative Assistant in 2013. Her responsibilities have expanded to include stewardship of the membership database, office operations, vendor contracts, ARA’s summer internship program, new employee on-boarding, and other duties.
Carpenter joined the ARA staff in 2015 and has been involved in ARA’s advocacy efforts, developing a vast array of Capitol Hill contacts and a deep knowledge of the legislative process. Augusto has been with ARA for four years and leads communications, branding, event marketing, digital media, media relations, publications, and related functions for the association.
Taylor has been with ARA for 10 years, and leads ARA’s member recruiting, retention, on-boarding, sponsorship, member services, and other areas. ARA said Taylor was instrumental in developing ARA’s Professional Development Pathway for member employee development and the new remote-work-friendly NAVIGATOR 360o development tool launched in 2020.
“I am privileged to work alongside a small but mighty team of talented professionals,” said ARA President and CEO Daren Coppock. “The ARA team gets a lot done with fewer people than most realize. The only reason we’re able to accomplish what we do is the high caliber of people dedicated to advancing the interests of our member agricultural retailers. These promotions recognize hard work, flexibility, performance, and tenure of several key staff members.”