CASP Director and Executive Committee member Allan Parker is President of the World Potato Congress. WPC is dedicated to supporting the global growth and development of the potato by bringing together the broad potato industry represented by both developing and developed countries.

The 7th World Potato Congress was held in 2009 in Christchurch, New Zealand, with more than 550 people from 50 countries attending. Pictured here is Allan Parker (right) at the Congress.

CASP’s President, Douglas MacArthur, is now a member of the Governing Council (Board of Directors) of Canada’s National Research Council. NRC is the Government of Canada’s premier organization for research and development. NRC comprises some 20 institutes and national programs.

CASP is becoming increasingly active in Eastern Europe. For the past several years, CASP project activities in Eastern Europe were limited to Russia and Serbia. Now, CASP is Focusing on Southeast Europe and plans to undertake a variety of project activities in the Region.

Recently, Victor Petrescu was appointed as CASP’s Director of Operations for Southeast Europe. Now headquartered in Bucharest, Romania, Victor has worked with CASP since the organization began. His prior posting was as the on-site, project co-director for Master Plan project for Ampara District where he worked in eastern Sri Lanka for 18 months. Victor is an experienced economist with years of experience in international development projects in countries around the globe.

On October 16th CASP member company JAY•LOR Fabricating Inc. of Orton, Ontario was named the winner of the CME (Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters) award for BDC’s (Business Development Bank of Canada) Canadian Innovation Award for SME (Small-to-Medium Sized Enterprises) Innovator of the Year.

JAY•LOR manufacturers Vertical TMR Mixers for the beef and dairy industry and currently has product in 27 countries around the world. This award demonstrates JAY•LOR’s leadership and strength as one of Canada’s top innovative companies.

With nine patents and four patents pending we know that innovation is the key to our success, and to stand out from the crowd, it’s imperative. Everyone at JAY•LOR believes our priority is perpetual improvement through Research and Development.

JAY•LOR’s biggest asset continues to be its employees and we all take pride in our product, in our continued growth and in our innovations. This year more than ever JAY•LOR is proud to be the recipient of an award recognizing Innovation. In this time of economic uncertainty JAY•LOR is expanding its facilities and hiring additional employees to take full advantage of the growing demand for our mixers.

JAY•LOR has also received in 2008:

• OBAA and OGTA the Bronze Market Expansion Award from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (Ontario Business Achievement Award & Ontario Global Traders Awards)
• GDACC Award for Agriculture Business Excellence -2008. (Greater Dufferin Area Chamber of Commerce)

During the work that CASP has completed in Ampara District, Sri Lanka several pilot projects were initiated. One of these projects was the CASP Computer and Training Centre in Akkaraipattu. Now operating since February 2007 the Centre has seen the graduation of classes in various programming from English language training to computer use and software training.

The training centre is one of a kind in the region and continues to be a valuable asset for the people of Akkaraipattu and the surrounding area. Since March 2008, the project has operated on a commercial basis without government funding. It continues to expand its activities and in fall 2009 has acquired several major new clients and new program activities.