Tom Buis is a former president of the American National Farmers Union (NFU) and was CEO of Growth Energy until 2015. Before moving to NFU, Buis was the Senior Agriculture Policy Advisor for Senate Majority Leader

Tom Daschle Thomas Andrew Daschle ( ; born December 9, 1947) is an American politician and lobbyist who represented South Dakota in the United States Senate from 1987 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he led the Senate Democratic Caucus during the ...

(D-S.D.).

Early life

Tom Buis grew up with two brothers on his family's farm in Putnam and Morgan Counties, West Central Indiana. After completing his education he became a full-time grain and livestock farmer in Indiana.

Congressional staffer

In 1987, Buis moved to Washington, D.C. where he worked as a legislative assistant and legislative director for U.S. Representative Jim Jontz (D-Ind.), and as special assistant for agriculture to U.S. Senator

Birch Bayh Birch Evans Bayh Jr. (; January 22, 1928 – March 14, 2019) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as a member of United States Senate from 1963 to 1981. He was first elected t ...

(D-Ind.). He worked for nearly five years as senior agricultural policy adviser to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D).

National Farmers Union

Buis began work with the National Farmers Union in 1998. He was vice president of government relations and was elected president 2006 and again in 2008. He stepped down to become CEO of Growth Energy.

Growth Energy

Buis joined Growth Energy as CEO in March 2009 and worked until July 2015. After stepping down as CEO, Buis went on to be Co-Chair of the Board. Growth Energy is an interest group representing the interests of the ethanol industry. In May 2009, Buis was selected as one of Washington's top 50 lobbyists by The Hill newspaper. Additionally, Buis' name appeared frequently on many lists of potential candidates to be in President Obama's cabinet as

Secretary of Agriculture The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments The department includes several organiz ...

, despite being known primarily as a lobbyist. On September 19, 2016, Buis was presented with the America’s Fuel award for his work in promoting the ethanol industry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buis, Tom Living people American lobbyists Year of birth missing (living people)