The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) has named J. David Carlin to the position of senior vice president of legislative affairs and economic policy. In this role, Carlin will be responsible for managing all of the association's legislative, political and economic policy activities. He replaces Jerry Slominski, who left IDFA earlier this year.
Carlin, who was a partner with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP until joining IDFA, has extensive experience in food and agriculture policy. He has represented numerous food and agricultural companies, cooperatives and trade associations before the House and Senate Agriculture Committees and at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
"Dave knows agriculture policy well, having served as assistant secretary for Congressional Relations under Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman,” said Connie Tipton, IDFA president and CEO.
Carlin was an associate at Akin Gump when President Bill Clinton appointed him in 1995 to serve with Glickman at USDA. As head of the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations, Carlin served as the primary USDA liaison with Congress and the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. He returned to Akin Gump in 1998 to focus his practice on public law and policy matters.
But his interest in agricultural and public policy began on the family dairy farm.
“Dave grew up on a dairy farm founded by his grandfather in 1940. He reports that during the early days, they sold their milk to JoMar Dairy in Salina, but by the time he was active on the farm, they sold their milk to a Wichita coop,” said Tipton. “They milked about 40 cows and had the top producing herd in Kansas in 1977 and 1978. His father, John William Carlin, ran the operation from1962 until he became governor of the State of Kansas in 1979. ”
In Washington, D.C., Carlin also is active in many community, civic and charitable organizations. He co-founded the Homeless Children’s Tutorial Project, Inc., a volunteer program serving children in Washington, D.C. He also is chairman of the board of directors for Video/Action, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization and serves as a member of the board of trustees of the Capitol Hill Day School along with Tipton.
Carlin received a B.A. summa cum laude in political science and modern languages from Kansas State University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he served as co-chairman of the Harvard Law School Legislative Research Bureau. He is a member of the District of Columbia and Missouri bars.
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The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, D.C., represents the nation's dairy manufacturing and marketing industries and their suppliers, with a membership of 550 companies within a $125-billion a year industry. IDFA is composed of three constituent organizations: the Milk Industry Foundation (MIF), the National Cheese Institute (NCI) and the International Ice Cream Association (IICA). IDFA's nearly 200 dairy processing members run nearly 600 plant operations, and range from large multi-national organizations to single-plant companies. Together they represent more than 85 percent of the milk, cultured products, cheese, ice cream and frozen desserts produced and marketed in the United States.