Celebration in Ft. Collins, CO Western Regional Office Progressive Farmer Award To USDA-APHIS "People of the Year 2003" February 26, 2003
On February 26, 2003, APHIS was presented with the Progressive Farmer's Award - "People of the Year."	This distinguished award was given in recognition to all APHIS employees for their dedicated service in protecting American agriculture.
The PPQ Deputy Administrator's Safeguarding awards were presented in the Ft. Collins facility at the same ceremony to recognize distinguished accomplishments in PPQ in support of Safeguarding. Dr. Richard L. Dunkle, Deputy Administrator for PPQ, presented these awards. Safeguarding Award to: Owen T. Shiozaki Tacoma, WA These dedicated recipients worked diligently in improving PPQ operations. Mr. Shiozaki received recognition for his work with electronic seals on trucks shipping transiting commodities.	Safeguarding Award to: Stuart Kuehn Ft. Collins, CO Mr. Kuehn was a member of the Laredo Transit Team, which was recognized for its work in establishing a border-to-border tracking system for transit commodities.
Safeguarding Award to: Julio G. Vila Laredo, TX Mr. Vila, as leader of the Laredo Transit Team, initiated and developed the tracking process at a time when no monitoring system was in place. Other members of the team were: Jose Uribe Andrea Rodriguez Sergio Regalado Stuart Kuehn Marco Osuna