Nov. 1, 2010
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Ag. commissioner candidate Zorn in Cherokee Co. By Scott Wright NOTE: After reading, please leave your comments in the space provided at the end of this article. CENTRE Candidate Glen Zorn was in town last month to speak to the local Democratic party. Zorn, a cotton, pine tree and peanut farmer, and former mayor, is seeking the office of commissioner of the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries.I think people need to understand a little bit about my background, Zorn told The Post in an exclusive interview. I am a farmer, with over 40 years of experience in agribusiness. As mayor of Florala, Zorn worked to expand the city's industrial park and brought in new businesses and jobs. Taking note of the long term needs of his hometown community, Zorn led a successful effort to build a nursing home. Completed in 2003, Florala's is one of the most recently built skilled nursing home facilities in the state. I had the opportunity to run for mayor, because I saw that there were a lot of things that we needed, he said. I was fortunate to be elected to two terms. Zorn sought the mayor's office after spending nearly four decades in agribusiness, most all of which revolved around his Florala-based family business, Zorn Brothers, Inc. Zorn's interest in politics and public service began when he realized how much impact the federal Clean Water Acts were going to have on agriculture. Zorn currently serves as assistant commissioner to current Ag dept. head and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ron Sparks. In that role, Zorn is the director of the Center for Alternative Fuels, and the departments for Light Weights and Measures, Heavy Weights and Measures, and Plant Protection. Zorn joined Ron Sparks's campaign for commissioner in 2001 and served as his campaign committee chairman. After Sparks was sworn in as commissioner, he asked Zorn to join his full-time staff in Montgomery. After Ron was elected, he came to me and said, 'You've got 40 years of agribusiness experience, you've got corporate experience, and you've got municipal and legislative experience', Zorn said. He told me he wanted somebody with the perspective I had acquired to work with his department so that we could all work together. Zorn said he talked with his wife and brothers, who are also his business partners, and decided to make the sacrifice for the betterment of all farmers in Alabama. We felt like it gave us all an opportunity to contribute to the very business we had made our living in all of our lives, he said. We represent farmers and agribusiness people, and we've been helping them for the past seven-plus years. Zorn has a degree in business administration and economics from the University of West Alabama. His alma mater took note of his business and civic leadership and selected him to join the University's prestigious Society of the Golden Key in 2003. Zorn is a certified crop advisor, and was chairman of the American Society of Agronomy's Alabama Certified Crop Board in 2000. He served on the Alabama Commission on Environmental Initiatives and in a number of other positions in agriculture, business and the environment. Zorn said it is his years of experience, both in farming and government, which sets him apart from Republican opponent John McMillan. I have first-hand experience, and I have worked beside Ron Sparks for the past seven-plus years, I know how our Board operates, Zorn said. I want to continue to work with our employees, give them the proper tools to work with so they can be more productive. Zorn said he also plans to continue the Sparks plan of traveling the globe to market Alabama and its natural resources and products to consumers around the world. Zorn and his late wife, Mary Jane, have two children and two grandchildren. |