The Indiana FFA Association and the Indiana State Department of  Agriculture announced the hiring of Tamara (Tami) Ketchen as the new Indiana FFA Association Director. Ketchen currently serves as the assistant FFA director for the Association and previously held the role as director from 2015 to 2018.

“We are extremely excited to have Tami back as director of the FFA Association,” said Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, Indiana’s secretary of agriculture. “During her previous time with the department, she was a crucial part of the FFA team and helped develop youth education initiatives that live on today. I look forward to working alongside Tami once again to promote and elevate FFA to our legislative leaders and businesses.”

Indiana FFA is a dynamic youth organization that provides students opportunities for leadership development, personal growth, and career success.

“Tami is a great addition to our leadership staff at the department and I am eager to work with her in this role,” said Bruce Kettler, ISDA director. “Our department works hand in hand with the Indiana FFA Association and that organization is very close to my heart. I have full confidence that Tami will ensure our youth development, education and FFA chapters are taken to the next level.”

As director of the Association, Ketchen will oversee programs, collaborate with ISDA staff to progress agricultural education, enhance communications between FFA advisors and members, as well as act as a liaison between Indiana FFA and National FFA. She will also be responsible for continuing the implementation of the Association’s strategic plan.

“I am incredibly thankful to be back as director of an organization that I love so much,” said Ketchen. “FFA is incredibly important for our students and for our state and I look forward to building relationships with advisors, businesses and legislators to promote youth agriculture education for years to come.”

The Indiana FFA Association has 216 chapters serving over 11,600 Indiana FFA members. In this role Ketchen will oversee the Indiana FFA Pavilion at the Indiana State Fair, coordinate the completion of strategic plan initiatives, lead the Indiana FFA Association Board of Trustees and help with leadership training for the Indiana State FFA Officers. She will also manage the team of FFA and ag education employees within ISDA.

Ketchen graduated from Purdue University in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Education. Prior to her position as assistant director of the Indiana FFA Association, Ketchen held the role of Field Atlas Program Manager with AgriNovus Indiana.

JASON ASHWORTH ANNOUNCEMENT SPEECH FOR VANDERBURGH COUNTY SHERIFF

JANUARY 5, 2022

Good Morning – WOW

Thank you. Since the beginning, the positive response to our campaign has been overwhelming.

Today, I made it official – I have filed to be your next Vanderburgh County Sheriff.

I’d like to thank all of you here today and many more who are not able to be here, specifically Deputies, Corrections Officers, and Employees of the Sheriff’s Office.

I want to acknowledge and thank my wife Kendyl, as she heads back to school as soon as we leave here.

Thank you to my team, including Sheriff Eric Williams and Sheriff Brad Ellsworth, all of the local elected Democrats supporting my campaign, and the overwhelming majority of the Sheriff’s Office who support me.

There are many of our Community Leaders that I will lean on when I am Sheriff. Leaders who expect real progress and real results – and that is the leader I will be as Sheriff.

I make you these commitments:

I will tell you the truth,

I will demand progress,

AND our Community will see results, rather than unkept promises.

Starting as a Corrections Officer in 1993, and rising to the rank of Major, I have seen firsthand the problems our community faces. It is this experience that has prepared me to not just lead the Sheriff’s Office, but to be the Sheriff we need for a safer and more just Vanderburgh County.

Today, I am excited to announce a few major initiatives of my administration as your Sheriff.

First, as your Sheriff, beginning day one, my office will no longer make arrests for simple marijuana possession. These arrests disproportionately impact people of color, and as your Sheriff, this is only the first step in ensuring a more just and fair community.

Instead, we will use these resources and more to crack down on the TWO BIGGEST THREATS to Vanderburgh County Today – the trafficking of Opioids and Illegal Guns! Shooting deaths and opioid use killed more people in our community last year than ever before.  It will be my priority to tackle this head-on.

As I work to keep this County Safe, it is also my job as Sheriff to keep the folks in our jail safe. I believe that if someone dies in our jail, the family of the deceased along with the public deserve a transparent and honest accounting of what happened. So, today, I am announcing a third-party independent review of an inmate’s death at the Vanderburgh County Jail under my administration. I told you that I was going to get to the truth, and I mean it!

My team and I will be releasing the rest of our platform throughout this campaign, but for today, let me tell you about one more initiative we will roll out when I take office.

As Sheriff, I will provide additional support for those in need of mental health treatment.  Too often, our deputies encounter neighbors who are in need of mental health treatment rather than jail. Under my administration, we will provide mental health support to those in need instead of locking them in jail without the appropriate resources. This has always been unfair and unjust, and under my administration, these folks and their families will find a friend in the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office.

I am so honored to be your candidate and I am excited as hell to be your next Sheriff.

Thank you for your support! Now, let’s go to work!!