USA Rice Federation Names New Communications VP

Washington, DC, October 20, 2004 — The USA Rice Federation is pleased to announce the appointment of David Alan Coia as the organization’s new vice president for communications.

Coia will serve as the primary staff editor and writer, and will be responsible for developing and implementing communications activities to help the organization achieve its strategic goals. He will report to Patricia Alderson, VP for communications and member services.

"David brings extensive communications and trade association experience to this position at the Federation,” said USA Rice Communications Committee Chairman Chris Crutchfield, managing partner, American Commodity Company, LLC., Robbins, Calif. “In addition, it was evident throughout the interview process that he has strong passion for rice drawn from the extensive time he spent living, studying and teaching in Asia. I am confident that David will be an excellent asset to our communications team."

Coia co-founded and edited the Advantage magazine for the Food Marketing Institute in Washington, and before that was director of communications for Food Distributors International (FDI) in Falls Church, Virginia. While at FDI Coia developed and edited Food Distributor magazine. Prior to his trade association work he was a newspaper reporter for The Washington Times.

Coia holds a master’s degree in Journalism from Ohio State University, and a B.A. in psychology and Certificate of Proficiency in Asian studies from Kent State University. He has also taught and studied at universities in China.

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USA Rice Federation is the national advocate for all segments of the rice industry, conducting activities to influence government programs, developing and initiating programs to increase worldwide demand for U.S. rice, and providing other services to increase profitability for all industry segments.

Contact: Patricia Alderson, (703) 236-1472, talderson@usarice.com