Milling & Baking News - November 15, 2022 - 36

TUES | 11 15 2022
and we went to Copenhagen.
The first day when
we got there, my mother
went to a farmers' market
and bought every different
kind of produce they
had. We went to a park,
spread out a blanket and
gorged on all this bounty
we didn't get in Moscow.
We are so fortunate and
blessed in the United
States. "
Mr. MacKie attended
MacKie
college at Frostburg State
University, part of the
University of Maryland
system, located in the city
of Frostburg in north
central Maryland. He
studied political science
and government with the
intent to pursue a career
running political campaigns.
going
to happen overnight. But wouldn't it
be great if you could come up with a food
safe bag that was 100% compostable? I'm not
a scientist, but there are really smart people
who could figure that out. That would really
proactively position the industry in the
eyes of the consumer. On the board there is
a willingness to take this issue up. Ten years
ago that may not have been the case. "
Mr. MacKie has led the ABA for nearly
17 years and joined the organization in
1995. While he has lived in or near the
Washington metropolitan area since high
school, Mr. MacKie didn't grow up around
the nation's capital. In fact, he didn't grow
up in the mainland United States.
" My father was career army, " he said.
" In the early 1960s, he was stationed at a
base outside of Paris, France. That's where
I was born. We moved all over the world. "
Mr. MacKie's sister was born in Vienna,
and he recalls a 2.5-year stint in Moscow
near the peak of the Cold War around the
time he was a first grader.
" Moscow left me with an overwhelming
impression of how grey and dismal everything
was, " he said. " Goods would come in
from Helsinki. I remember that our phones
were tapped, our apartments were bugged.
We had a one-month leave one summer,
36 MILLING & BAKING NEWS
It wasn't until the summer before his
senior year when he landed an internship
on Capitol Hill in the office of Representative
Marjorie Holt of Maryland that he
realized he wanted to work in Washington
on policy development, constituent
service and the other work of congressional
staffers, not campaigns.
After sending out hundreds of resumes
following his 1985 college graduation,
Mr. MacKie was hired by Representative
James Kolbe of Arizona, where he spent
more than six years focusing on issues
including health care, indigenous peoples
affairs, science and technology.
After he married, Mr. MacKie moved
to the association world, which he said
offered better work/life balance and remuneration
sufficient to support a family. He
spent two years as assistant director of
government relations for the American
Subcontractors Association, a small organization
that allowed him to " test drive this
whole association thing, " Mr. MacKie said.
That was followed with the Associated
General Contractors of America, a group
with a staff of more than 200.
At the subcontractors group, Mr. MacKie
had a wide range of assignments, from
lobbying and oversight of committees to
working on the association's newsletter. By
contrast, at the general contractors group
his work was limited almost exclusively to
lobbying on labor management issues.
While satisfied with his work in the
contracting industry, Mr. MacKie decided
to respond to a suggestion from a friend at
the ABA that he apply to fill an opening as
vice president of government relations.
" I wasn't especially interested, but a
mid-sized association was appealing as
was the opportunity to really get to know
an industry, " he said.
Toward the end of the interview process,
Mr. MacKie was one of two finalists. The
process culminated with an interview by
ABA president Paul Abenante over a meal.
" The other finalist was a good friend,
still is, " he said. " I definitely was no more
qualified than him, and sometime after I
was hired, I asked Paul, 'Why did I get the
job instead of my friend?' He responded,
'You ate from the bread basket. He didn't. "
Mr. MacKie credited Mr. Abenante for
helping him bridge the very different
worlds of government in Washington
and businesses in the hinterlands. Before
joining the ABA, Mr. Abenante had spent
time at the National Savings and Loan
Association.
" I learned so much from Paul, " he said.
" Having been in the business world for so
long, he really knew how to connect with
business professionals. That really just
reinforced for me the importance of understanding
what the business motivations are
and how do we come alongside on the policy
front. Philosophically, I've always been
aligned with our members - pro-business,
entrepreneurial. It was a really good fit. "
Mr. MacKie succeeded Mr. Abenante
at the helm of the ABA in January 2006.
Reflecting on the work the ABA has done
over the course of his career, Mr. MacKie
said the organization's activities are not
always " sexy, " but they are very important
to the group's membership. He described
one of his fondest memories as the
so-called " Band of Bakers " march on Washington
in 2008 amid surging grains prices.
" We had almost 100 people there, " he said.
" One of my favorite moments is we were
sitting in the Capitol, and the CEO of the
largest baking company in the United States
was sitting next to a retail baker sitting in
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