WASHINGTON – The National Chicken Council (NCC) announced during its annual conference on Oct. 27 that four new officers would take over for 2022-2023.

The group named Kevin Garland, chief executive officer of Mountaire Farms, the new chairman.

Garland succeeded his father-in-law, Ronnie Cameron at the poultry company. Before Mountaire, he worked for over 25 years in private equity as a managing partner at The Sterling Group in Houston and Enron Corporation. He began his career in investment banking at Stephens Inc.

Randy Day, CEO of Perdue Farms, will serve as vice chairman. Day works on the company’s senior leadership team that includes Perdue AgriBusiness and Perdue Farms corporate functions. He was named CEO in March of 2017, after serving as chief operating officer. Day began his professional career with Perdue Farms in 1980, holding several positions in the company’s two operating divisions.

A new addition to the NCC officer corps will be Bill Griffith, COO at Peco Foods, who will serve as secretary-treasurer.

Before joining Peco, he worked for Keystone Foods US where he served as president from 2016-2019. Also, he held roles of vice president of global safety and quality assurance and vice president of safety and quality assurance. In addition to nine years with Keystone, Griffith had a successful tenure at Perdue Foods, overseeing food safety, quality and regulatory compliance.

Prior to working at Perdue, Griffith was a microbiologist at Tyson Foods where he established a global reputation as an innovator in food safety technology.

In addition to the three new officers, Mike Brown was elected to a 12^th term as president of the NCC.

“This past year was riddled with challenges for our industry – COVID-19, hurricanes, record inflation, soaring input costs, and new government regulations,” Brown said. “2023 will present new challenges, but also opportunities. With the depth of experience brought forth by this new slate of leadership, I fully expect us to continue to rise up to them all.”