Seitz named Pender County Extension director

Mark Seitz, associate area specialized Extension agent based in Jones County, has been named director of the N.C. Cooperative Extension center in Pender County, effective Oct. 1.

Seitz’s appointment was announced by Pender County Manager Rick Benton, Dr. Joe Zublena, interim director, N.C. Cooperative Extension Service; and Greg Hoover, Southeast District Extension director. Seitz succeeds Wayne Batten, who retired from Cooperative Extension in Pender County July 1, 2009.

Seitz has served as an associate area specialized agent in commercial horticulture since 2004. Prior to that, he held various positions with Seneca Foods Corp. in New York and worked as a graduate research assistant in Kansas State University’s Department of Agriculture Economics.

Seitz earned a bachelor’s degree in crop and soil science at Michigan State University and a master of agribusiness at Kansas State University.

“I am very pleased to have Mark Seitz serving as county Extension director in Pender County” said Hoover, director of the Southeast District, which includes Pender County. “Mark has a diverse background – including work in private industry and extension – that will be an asset to Pender County and Cooperative Extension. He is well equipped to meet the educational needs of farmers in the county.”

-Natalie Hampton