When Paul Sundberg, DVM, took on the role of building the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) from the ground up, he faced a lot of questions from not only pork producers, but also himself.
“The initial questions were about setting and funding priorities. SHIC grew in response to the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) outbreak, and during that outbreak, it was apparent that we weren’t prepared to be able to find it because we didn’t have adequate diagnostics,” Sundberg says.
From there, he says the questions became more focused on what the “big bucket” priority areas should be.
“It was very much a group effort and outcome,” he adds. “I greatly appreciate that the board of directors, from the very start, gave me a lot of latitude about how SHIC was going to work, how it was going to be run and what was going to happen. They gave me the ability to try to figure things out.”
He says the role of executive director of SHIC has given him a lot of freedom to push people in ways that will help them achieve success.
Admittedly, he had no idea what he was in for when he came to work for SHIC.
“I know that SHIC wouldn’t have happened without my wife Debbie’s support. She has made a big difference,” Sundberg says. “I couldn’t have done it without her ability to help me so I could help make other things happen.”
Although Sundberg is always one to turn the spotlight onto others, the pork industry wants to say thank you to Sundberg for his years of devotion to helping pork producers and pigs thrive. We asked some of Sundberg’s colleagues and friends if they had two minutes to thank him for his contributions, what would they say?
“I’d thank Paul for his skilled leadership in taking a brand-new entity in the Swine Health Information Center from a concept to a reality. I’d thank him for his efforts to form and lead the board of directors and help us do what we do as board members. It’s his leadership that has now created this entity of SHIC and guided the next generation of very qualified leadership coming in. I am thankful for his assistance in that transition and his willingness to work to make sure that success continues beyond him. He’s thinking about the entity for the long term. I’m thankful for his skilled leadership to do that.”
– Mark Schwartz, Director of Innovation and Production Optimization for Schwartz Farms
“The goal of the original Board of Directors of SHIC was to find that perfect individual to oversee the entity. Someone who was passionate about protecting the North America swine population from an introduction of any foreign animal disease, was respected and extremely well connected with all faucets of the industry and had knowledge and experience in swine health and research. Dr. Paul Sundberg was the perfect choice. He has led the organization since its inception with dedication and expertise that has indeed helped protect our industry from any new disease introduction.”
– Daryl Olsen, managing partner at AMVC and former president of SHIC Board of Directors from its inception until June 2023
“I have worked with Paul for nearly 30 years. He is a gentleman, professional and all-around good guy. Five traits stand out when I think about Paul. He’s dedicated – almost all of his career has been focused on helping producers raise healthy pigs. He has traveled the world and spent lots of days away from his family to make sure producers had a seat at the table when it came to discussing and discovering ways to improve pig health. He’s a life-long learner – even when he was the expert in the room, if there was something new brought up, Paul asked questions, researched more options, constantly learned new skills and communicated those to producers. He’s thorough – Paul always made sure he had all the information possible before making a decision on an issue; he never settled for one side of the equation. He’s patient – he’s worked with countless producer volunteers and younger staff; always answered questions, explained issues, both pro and con; and he never made a producer feel like they should know something even if it was pretty basic. Most of all, he’s respectful and appreciative of volunteers’ time and other experts’ opinions.”
– Barb Determan, president of Heartland Marketing Group
“On a personal level, I would like to thank him for being a mentor to me. He was a shoulder to literally cry on at times. He was the leader I needed in my life as I learned how to work for this industry and how to benefit this industry. I’d like to thank him for the solid advice he gave me as a friend throughout all the different decisions I was making within my career. On behalf of the pork industry, I want to thank him for the leadership he’s shown. I would like to thank him for standing there and taking some of those arrows that were aimed at the industry and using science to turn them right back around. He’s done so many things for the industry that I don’t think people will ever realize.”
– Dave Pyburn, managing technical services veterinarian with Zoetis and former National Pork Board chief veterinarian
“Paul has worked tirelessly over the course of his career to protect and improve swine health with a sense of urgency on behalf of U.S. pork producers. From SHIC’s inception in 2015, Paul has worked with the SHIC Board of Directors to lead the development of quality services and programs to fulfill the SHIC mission of mitigating emerging disease threats to the U.S. pork industry. With Paul’s leadership, SHIC has cultivated consensus among diverse swine industry stakeholders to provide high value swine health and emerging disease initiatives for pork producers. As the SHIC leadership team moves into the future, we will certainly be standing on his shoulders to build upon the organization’s foundation while remaining steadfast to SHIC’s mission and providing return on investment to producers. A big congratulations and sincerest well wishes to both Paul and his wife Deb as they move into this next phase of their life.”
– Megan Niederwerder, executive director of SHIC
“Personally, I want to thank Paul for challenging me to grow and be better. I want to thank him for encouraging me to go after new opportunities and wishing me success in those opportunities. Second, on behalf of the industry, I’d like to thank him for always putting producers first and really advocating for good science and policy for the industry.”
– Liz Wagstrom, former National Pork Producers Council chief veterinarian
“Thank you for everything you’ve done for the U.S. pork industry. You’ve left quite a legacy, and you’ve left the industry in a much better spot as you go into the next chapter of your life. You should be proud of your accomplishments. Look back and smile, you’ll never take credit for the work that you’ve done, but you should be very proud of the work you’ve done. It’s been a joy and honor.”
– Mark Greenwood, former chief diversified markets officer at Compeer Financial and former SHIC board member
Read More:
A Humble Leader: How Paul Sundberg Moved the Needle in Swine Health
