Jim Sumner retires from council after 32 years
VAIL, Colo. — Greg Tyler was installed at the new president and CEO of the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council at its recent Annual Meeting in Vail, Colo. His new role is active as of July 1.
Tyler succeeds Jim Sumner who is retiring after 32 years leading the organization.
Tyler has been with USAPEEC for 25 years, starting as director of Foreign Market Development and Asian Promotions, then serving as vice president and senior vice president for marketing before being named chief operating officer in July 2020. In those roles, he has supervised USAPEEC’s international offices and marketing programs implemented in more than 75 countries.
Tyler holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural economics from the University of Georgia, and also serves as secretary/treasurer of the U.S. Agricultural Export Development Council (USAEDC), an export-oriented association representing U.S. commodity trade organizations, farmer cooperatives, and state regional trade groups.
“This is both a tremendous honor and a great responsibility,” Tyler said. “USAPEEC has played an invaluable role for decades in developing the international market for U.S. poultry and egg exports and has achieved some great successes. As always, there will be challenges ahead of us, but with the continued support of our members and the hard work of our U.S. staff and our offices around the world I am confident we will continue to fulfill our mission.”
Under Sumner, the percentage of U.S. chicken production that is exported tripled to about 18 percent, and significant gains were made in turkey and egg exports. USAPEEC has grown to 16 international offices on four continents and helped initiate and develop trade with dozens of countries from Mexico to China. It launched the International Poultry Council, and Sumner also helped found the predecessor organization to the World Poultry Foundation.
“I’m so proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish in my time at USAPEEC, and grateful to have worked with so many talented people on the council and throughout our industry,” Sumner said. “I am confident that under Greg, this organization will continue to open markets and grow poultry and egg exports around the world. We were very fortunate to be able to hire from within our organization to fulfill this important position, a process which was begun several years ago by our executive committee.”
Sumner will continue to serve USAPEEC as a senior advisor, retain his roles with the IPC and the WPF, and act as the industry’s representative to the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee (APAC) and other groups.
