From the USDA perspective, this initiative is an opportunity for market expansion of biobased industrial products. I am pleased to announce that the premiere issue of the Partners video magazine was judged as a finalist in the 20th Annual Telly Awards, a national awards program recognizing a variety of video and film productions. Partners was judged in the Government Relations category. The Telly Awards, founded in 1980, showcases and gives recognition to outstanding non-network and cable TV commercials. The competition was expanded several years ago to include film and video productions, as well as non-network TV programming.
Judges look at each production as a whole and reward outstanding quality overall.
Entries do not compete against each other but compete against a high standard of excellence. The judges rate each entry on a 10-point scale. Entries with a score of 9.0 or higher are winners, and receive the silver Telly. Columbia TriStar, the History Channel, CNN, the United States Navy and Air Force, and the Smithsonian Institution. I'm sure you join me in congratulating former Deputy Administrator Barbara White and Executive Producer Tom Willis for this excellent production.