U.S. Poultry & Egg Association President John Starkey invites you to apply for membership. USPOULTRY is the world's largest and most active poultry organization of its kind. Our members include producers and processors of broilers, turkeys, ducks, eggs, and breeding stock, as well as allied companies. The association helps improve and advance the industry in the areas of research, education, the environment, food safety, poultry health, and communication. USPOULTRY annually contributes approximately $1.2 million in the form of research grants to benefit the industry. The association also sponsors the International Poultry Exposition, the largest show in the poultry and egg industry. Note: USPOULTRY memberships are based on a calendar year (Jan. 1-Dec. 31).

Please take a few minutes to review our association benefits and consider becoming a member. To apply for membership, complete the online membership application. Not sure if your company is already a member? Check our member list. You also can mail a copy of the form to: Membership, U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, 1530 Cooledge Road, Tucker, GA 30084-7303. American Express, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover credit cards are accepted. For more information contact .

To apply for a branch membership in the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, complete the online branch membership application. *Your company must have a paid membership in order to obtain this category.*

What is an association?
An association is a membership-based organization that is a private, legally incorporated entity with a public benefit purpose. By providing benefits to their members, associations are an invaluable resource. Because of their public benefit purpose, nonprofit organizations are often exempt from paying tax on income they generate. Like any business or organization, they must earn excess revenues after expenses (or at least break even) to survive. However, any excess revenues cannot be distributed to members, staff or anyone else—it can only go back to achieving the organization’s public benefit purpose.

Why are associations important?

• More than 147,000 associations exist in the United States, representing nearly every industry, profession, charity, hobby, cause, and interest.
• Nine out of 10 adult Americans belong to one association, and one out of four belong to four or more associations, according to a 1998 study by AARP.
• Associations employ 295,000 people in the United States.
• More people work for nonprofit organizations than for the federal government and all 50 states combined.
• Americans are forming as many as 1,000 new associations each year.
• Associations rank as a major segment of the health insurance market, with $6 billion in health premiums.
• Associations spend $2.2 billion annually on technology.
• Ninety-five percent of associations offer educational programs to their members. Seventy-nine percent offer public information and education.
• Associations are the originating source for codes of ethics and professional and safety standards that govern such professions as law, medicine, banking, and manufacturing.
• Seventy-one percent of all associations conduct industry research or develop statistical information. Businesses and government depend heavily on associations for their statistical information, which is often not available elsewhere.
• More than 173 million volunteer hours in community service are documented annually by associations.
• Associations dominate the $83 billion meetings industry, spending more than $56 billion annually to hold conventions, expositions, and seminars. The entire meetings industry ranks as the 23rd largest contributor to the Gross National Product.
• The direct spending of the conventions, expositions, meetings, and incentive travel industry supports 1.57 million full-time equivalent jobs in the United States. Meetings and conventions generate 22 percent of the operating revenue of the air transportation industry.
• Meetings also account for more than $12.3 billion in state, local, and federal sales and income taxes.

Source: American Society of Association Executives