Source: NCDA&CS, 1/19/22


We Are Agriculture is a year-long series that will highlight the hard-work done by employees across the Department of Agriculture. Brenda Jackson, Complex Manager of the Steve Troxler Agricultural Sciences Center, is one of those employees. Stay tuned each Wednesday here on the blog or any of our social media accounts and join us in honoring those who continue to drive our state’s agriculture industry forward each day!

As Complex Manager of the new Steve Troxler Agricultural Sciences Center, Brenda Jackson has played a major role in the largest building project ever undertaken by the NCDA&CS. Although her career did not start out within the agriculture industry, Brenda has served in a variety of roles and taken on a plethora of projects throughout her 15 years with the department.

Brenda first fell in love with the south while attending Virginia Tech University. While there, she obtained a degree in Chemistry and met a southern boy who led her to Raleigh. “In 2007, I took my first job with the department of agriculture as a Quality Assurance Specialist, aka Chemist, in the Food and Drug Protection Division,” she said. “I spent many years in that division and worked in a variety of roles, including Quality Systems Manager, before taking my current role with the Agricultural Sciences Center (ASC).”

The Agricultural Sciences Center is the first building of its kind and is home to over 200 employees within the Food and Drug Protection Division, Standards Division, Structural Pest Control and Pesticides Division, and Veterinary Division.

When the ASC project initially began, Brenda became Complex Manager in July of 2020 when the former manager retired. “As a quality manager you get to know all the functions of your divisions,” she said, “and while I was serving as interim manager, I gained a wider appreciation and perspective of all the divisions within the ASC that has helped me become a better overall Complex Manager today.”

For more of this story, click here.