LOUISVILLE, KY. – Neil Dierks was honored this week by being inducted into the National Pork Industry Hall of Fame at NPPC’s annual business meeting.

Dierks recently retired as chief executive officer of the National Pork Producer Council.

“Neil is a giant in the pork industry. He was there at the beginning — after the separation agreement with the Pork Board — and he guided NPPC through good and not-so-good times over the past 20 years,” said Jen Sorenson, outgoing president of NPPC. “Neil has made countless lasting contributions to the US pork industry and established NPPC as a top-tier advocacy organization and the global voice of the US pork industry.”

Dierks began working in the pork industry when he joined the Iowa Pork Producer Association in 1981 to manage the Iowa Pork Congress.

Following work with the legislative outreach for the Iowa Corn Growers Association, Dierks joined NPPC in 1990 to manage World Pork Expo.

Before working as CEO of NPPC he also served as the organization’s director of operations, vice president of research and education, and senior vice president of programs.

Six months after NPPC and the industry’s checkoff were split into independent organizations, Dierks was recruited from the National Pork Board in 2001 to be CEO of NPPC, which had five employees with the World Pork Expo as its single source of revenue.

Dierks helped NPPC expand and establish its presence as a national advocacy organization for US pork producers.