National Chicken Council elects new chairman
Mike Helgeson, chief executive officer of GNP Company, St. Cloud, Minnesota, was elected to serve as 2013-2014 chairman of the National Chicken Council (NCC) during NCC’s Board of Directors meeting held in Washington, DC.
“It’s a great honour to serve as the incoming chair for the National Chicken Council, and I look forward to serving the chicken industry in the upcoming year,” Helgeson said. “Ours is a vibrant and dynamic industry, one with great opportunities as well as ongoing challenges. As I take the gavel today, I’m optimistic that we’ll continue to step-up to not only meet but exceed the challenges and opportunities the next year will bring us.”
Helgeson has served as CEO and a member of the board of directors of GNP Company (formerly Gold’n Plump Poultry) since 1993. He joined the company in 1974 and worked in various divisions, including new products manager in the sales and marketing division, project manager in the broiler division, personnel manager at the Cold Spring, Minnesota, processing plant, and purchasing/elevator manager in the feed and grain division. He spent his first two years in Indonesia researching and developing a broiler operation.
Serving as vice chairman for 2013-2014 is Jerry Lane, president of Claxton Poultry in Claxton, Georgia. Lane, a veteran of 34 years in Georgia’s poultry industry, has been with Claxton Poultry since 1985, serving as General Manager and Vice President. He was named President in 1997. Prior to joining Claxton, Lane began his poultry career at Mar Jac Poultry in 1978.
New to the officer corps, Todd Simmons takes over as Secretary-Treasurer. Simmons is the Chief Executive Officer of Simmons Foods and affiliates with headquarters in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.
In addition to the three new officers, Mike Brown, of Vienna, Virginia, was elected to a third term as president of NCC.
“I first want to commend immediate past Chairman Bill Lovette for his outstanding service to NCC and to the industry this past year and for his long list of accomplishments,” noted Brown. “The next twelve months will be a year full of challenges and opportunities for NCC, as issues like feed security, food safety, inspection and international trade become more prominent. I look forward to leaning on the extensive experience and vast knowledge of this group of officers to guide our organisation in the coming year.”
Officers serve one-year terms.
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