J.J. Keller & Associates recently announced plans to sponsor Dallas Seavey, a sled dog musher, in the 2007 Iditarod, which will begin in Anchorage, Alaska, on March 4 and end 9 to 13 days later in Nome.
James J. Keller, president and chief operating officer of Neenah, Wis.-based J.J. Keller, and his wife, Rosanne, will be in Anchorage for the start of the race, and in Nome to welcome the mushers across the finish line. Keller also will ride in Seavey’s dog sled for the first 12 miles of the Iditarod ceremonial race.
Seavey is a member of Seavey’s Iditarod Racing Team in Seward, Alaska. In 2005, he was the youngest musher (at age 18) ever to finish the Iditarod. He also earned the distinction of being the only musher ever to race both the Iditarod and the Jr. Iditarod in the same year. His father, Mitch Seavey, took first place in the 2004 Iditarod, and his grandfather raced in and helped organize the very first Iditarod to Nome in 1973.
Keller noted that the company’s sponsorship of Dallas Seavey is to salute one of the original forms of transportation and to salute trucking professionals who dedicate themselves to transporting needed goods. “The Iditarod is a world-class event that definitely takes transportation to the extreme,” Keller says. “J.J. Keller has been partnering with transporters since 1953. We know they work in challenging, often extreme conditions, and we admire their extreme commitment to a job well done.”
What began as a tour of the Seavey sled dog camp by the Kellers while visiting Alaska has evolved into a full-fledged campaign. The company intends on taking their sponsorship of Seavey well beyond the Iditarod; tradeshows, banquets, conventions, personal appearances, sales contests and premiums are all part of J.J. Keller’s 2007 plans.
To learn more about J.J. Keller’s sponsorship of Seavey and to follow the 2007 race, go to www.jjkeller.com/iditarod.
