Palmetto AgriBusiness Council elects new officers for 2021

The Palmetto AgriBusiness Council (PABC) announced the election of officers for 2021. Harry L. Ott, Jr., President of the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation, was elected Chairman; Jane Sosebee, President of AT&T South Carolina was elected Vice Chair and Sarah Windham, Partner with Dixon Hughes Goodman, LLP, was re-elected Secretary/Treasurer. PABC represents some of the largest agribusiness employers in the state with a mission to promote the economic viability of South Carolina’s largest industry.

Ott is a row crop farmer from Calhoun County where he and his brother, Mark, produce cotton, corn, and peanuts on the family farm near St. Matthews.

A graduate of Clemson University, he served on the local school board for 12 years and then served in the South Carolina House of Representatives for 15 years. He resigned his seat in the General Assembly in 2013 to accept an appointment as State Director for the USDA Farm Service Agency for South Carolina and served in this position from 2013 to 2015. He was elected the sixth President of the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation in 2015.

Ott currently serves on the Palmetto AgriBusiness Council Executive Committee and Board and the Clemson Cooperative Extension 4-H Foundation Advisory Board.

Sosebee has held the position as President of AT&T South Carolina since October 2018. In this role, she works closely with state and community leaders to help bring new technology and jobs to the state and improve the quality of life for South Carolinians. She joined AT&T’s predecessor company, Southern Bell, in 1979, becoming a branch manager in the business marketing group in the Upstate. She moved to the External Affairs organization in 1998 and was appointed Director of External Affairs in 2007. She was subsequently named Director- Legislative Affairs.

A native of Laurens, S.C., Sosebee is a graduate of Clemson University with a bachelor’s degree in English. Her numerous honors and awards include Clemson University’s Distinguished Service Award, named Business Person of the Year by Greenville Magazine in 2005; and in 2007, was named a South Carolina Ambassador for Economic Development for Greenville County by the governor.
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Sosebee serves on the Palmetto AgriBusiness Council Executive Committee and Board, and is a member of the Palmetto Business Forum.

Windham, a member of the Palmetto AgriBusiness Council Executive Committee and Board, serves as a tax partner in the Charleston, S.C. office of Dixon Hughes Goodman (DHG). She has been practicing as a CPA since 2001, and her exceptional client service has afforded her opportunities to work with a wide variety of clients, including many family-owned and multi-generational businesses. Throughout her career with DHG, she has developed extensive financial areas, including tax planning, business consultation, and generational wealth planning/succession planning, as well as tax research and compliance for corporations, partnerships, limited-liability entities, and individuals with high net worth. Her vast industry knowledge includes agribusiness, construction and real estate.

As a valued consultant to her clients and their industries, Windham has served as a speaker and CPE presenter at a variety of industry association conferences and events, and has provided testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Small Business Subcommittee on behalf of the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation. She also has a vested interest in the firm’s Women Forward Initiative, frequently facilitating training and information sessions for the firm and community.

“We are very fortunate to have the leadership of such a well-respected and experienced slate of officers,” said PABC CEO Ronnie Summers. “ Their wealth of knowledge will be an asset in continuing PABC’s commitment to sustain and grow South Carolina’s agriculture and forestry sectors.”