ATLANTA – The North American Meat Institute (NAMI) gathered its members Tuesday, during the first day of the International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE), to present industry awards at its inaugural Annual Awards Ceremony and Luncheon. The ceremony included NAMI’s Board of Directors, key industry leaders, representatives from packer and processor companies, and award nominees and their families.
“This inaugural event will provide a unique opportunity to honor the meat and poultry industry’s continued commitment to service, ingenuity and improvement against the backdrop of the world’s largest annual meat, poultry and feed tradeshow,” said NAMI President and CEO Barry Carpenter.
The special recognition awards were:
• The Harry L. Rudnick Educator’s Award was presented to Dr. Joseph G. Sebranek, distinguished professor of animal science at Iowa State Univ., in recognition of his role as an educator of future industry leaders and his extensive research, which has advanced the meat and poultry industry’s food safety and quality management systems.
• The NAMI Foundation Scientific Achievement Award was presented to Dr. Mohammed Koohmaraie, CEO, Meat Division at IEH Laboratories, honoring his longstanding contributions assisting the industry to produce safe and wholesome meat, and his efforts to improve meat and poultry technologies.
• The Supplier of the Year was awarded to JBT Corp./Wolf-tec, in recognition of the company’s spirit of partnership with its customers and contribution to the success of the meat and poultry industry through advanced and innovative equipment design and production.
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| Sheldon Lavin, CEO, OSI Group and NAMI CEO Barry Carpenter |
• The Edward C. Jones Community Service Award was presented to Sheldon Lavin, chairman and CEO, OSI Group LLC, for his active participation in charitable organizations in the Chicago metropolitan area and the international communities in which OSI operates.
• The Industry Advancement Award was presented to Dr. Kerri Gehring, president of International HACCP Alliance and associate professor in the department of animal science at Texas A&M Univ., for her professional contributions in the areas of animal and food science education and research.
• The E. Floyd Forbes Award was given to Jim Lochner, former COO of Tyson Foods Inc., in recognition of his record of accomplishments and strong commitment to the meat industry.
The Institute also recognized member companies’ environmental achievements. NAMI developed a four-tiered environmental recognition program to help companies achieve continual environmental improvement in their operations. According to NAMI, “The program begins with Tier 1 with a basic package of environmental policy statements and environmental policy compliance criteria, advances through more comprehensive requirements in Tier 2, incorporates a complete Environmental Management Systems (EMS) model developed in cooperation with the EPA in Tier 3, and culminates with an ISO 14001 EMS in Tier 4.” A number of NAMI member companies were recognized for various levels of environmental accomplishments.
“The Meat Institute congratulates these exemplary individuals and companies for their impressive achievements,” Carpenter said. “Their hard work and innovation will ensure that the industry continues to employ the highest standards and latest technology to produce wholesome, safe, nutritious products that exceed customer expectations.”
