Meet The Staff

Jesse Darlington

Jesse Darlington is the show manager for the Penn State Ag Progress Days. He has been a vital part of Ag Progress Days for 29 years and took over the show manager position in 2017. Jesse tends to all of the maintenance of the show grounds as well as managerial duties in the office.

Deb Ellis

Deb Ellis is the program manager for the Penn State Ag Progress Days. She has been a vital part of the show for 17 years. She tends to the responsibilities in the office located on the Pennsylvania State University Campus including office policies, exhibitor registrations, financials, event coordination, programming, and marketing.

Michaela Smith 

Michaela Smith is the newest member of our team, joining us in November 2019. She is a program assistant focusing on exhibitor registrations and is current graduate in Agricultural and Extension Education at the Pennsylvania State University and completed her first teaching semester of Ag Education.

Ryan Boonie

Ryan Boonie is a graduate of Penn State University and has been a part of the team at Ag Progress Days for 5 years. He resides in Tyrone with his wife and two boys.

John Lake 

John Lake is a part-time facility assistant. He comes from a farming family and has farmed all his life. He has been working for Ag Progress Days since 2019 alongside Jesse, Ryan & Nick.

Nick Getz

Nick is a part-time facility assistant. He is currently a senior in the College of Agricultural Sciences, majoring in Ag Sciences and minoring in Agronomy and Horticulture. Nick has worked at Ag Progress Days since May 2019 alongside Jesse, Ryan & John