On behalf of all of us at CCI, we are proud to recognize Dr. Clair Hicks of Lexington, Kentucky, as a PEP Distinguished Volunteer.
Dr. Hicks first became interested in Russia in the 1980s, when he and his wife were home hosts for a group of Russians brought over by his church. “We got along really well, and I thought, ‘Russians are a whole lot nicer than what we hear about on the news. It was the first time I had ever met a regular Russian, and it made me realize that the politics of the world are quite different than regular people.’”
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Dr. Hicks began making trips to the former Soviet countries, including Ukraine, Romania, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia, through development agencies like ACDI/VOCA and Winrock. On these trips he shared his invaluable expertise as a Professor of Food Science at the University of Kentucky to help entrepreneurs improve their food processing facilities. He first became involved with PEP in 2002, when he acted as Business Training Coordinator for a Dairy Plants group. It was a very successful program and a great experience for all involved, so Dr. Hicks was excited to work with CCI again this August to bring a delegation of food processors to Kentucky.
The delegation was unique in that its focus was on new product development and market research, instead of business management. Dr. Hicks arranged every aspect of the training program from securing the business hosts to creating the curriculum and presenting over half of the training materials himself. Dr. Hicks also arranged the transportation for the group, and, along with his son, Trent, drove the group for the entire two weeks.
The training program on most days was split between lectures by Dr. Hicks in the mornings and visits to companies in the afternoons. The format worked extremely well. The lectures gave the delegates an in-depth understanding of the different aspects of market research and new product development, and the company visits gave them the opportunity to see the ideas in practice. Facilitator Ilya Zlotnikov commented that it was one of the best-structured training programs on which he had ever worked.
“The training program was structured very logically. Dr. Hicks introduced the concepts, and then we would visit a business and see the concepts applied. All of the sessions were extremely useful, and Dr. Hicks even arranged for me to present my product to one of the business hosts for feedback.”
- Anatoly Chistyakov, Rybinsk
“The program was incredibly beneficial. I learned a lot of new information that I could not have obtained anywhere else. My favorite presentations were the ones that Dr. Hicks gave on focus groups and product testing, and the session on marketing at Penway. I am very grateful to Dr. Hicks for arranging such an intensive training program, and for all of the time and attention he gave us.”
- Maya Lyutyanskaya, Arkhangelsk
The experience was also very valuable for Dr. Hicks. “The highlight for me was watching the delegates grow and learn,” he explained. “They came in with a lot of ideas and expectations, and it took them about a week to really start to see things clearly, and for them to realize just what it takes to roll out a product successfully. Every day I would ask them, ‘Do you feel comfortable enough with what I’m teaching you to implement it at your companies?’ All of them would answer ‘Yes!’”
Dr. Hicks sees PEP as important not only for the training it provides the Russian delegates, but for the goodwill it generates. “They were very impressed to see that I would devote so much of my time to them, both professionally and personally,” Dr. Hicks explained. “They realized that Americans are interested in learning about them, and we become great ambassadors for the United States. The ability to connect on a personal and professional level is really important, and we need to do more of it!”
On behalf of all of us here at CCI, and all of the Russian PEP participants, thank you Dr. Hicks for sharing your expertise and for being such a wonderful ambassador!