WASHINGTON — The National Chicken Council has installed the four officers that will guide the organization through 2024. The installation took place at NCC’s 68th Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. Randy Day, retired CEO and special advisor to the Perdue Farms Board of Directors, will serve as 2023-2024 Chairman.
Day led the company’s senior leadership team, which includes Perdue Foods, Perdue AgriBusiness, and Perdue Farms corporate functions. After 43 years, Day retired as CEO this past summer and is now serving as special advisor to the board. 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 various positions of increasing responsibility in the company’s two operating divisions, Perdue Foods and Perdue AgriBusiness.
He received his bachelor of science degree in biology from Western Maryland College, earned a master’s degree in poultry nutrition from the University of Maryland-College Park, and completed the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School. Day and his wife Debbie reside in Salisbury, Md. They have three children and seven grandchildren.
Bill Griffith, Peco Foods chief operations officer, will serve as NCC vice chairman. Griffith has more than 25 years of management experience in the food industry and is known for his strong reputation for innovation, sustainability and quality. Prior to joining Peco, he worked for Keystone Foods U.S. where he served as president from 2016-2019 and also held roles of vice president of Global Food Safety and Quality Assurance, and vice president of Food 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. Preceding his time at Perdue, he was a microbiologist at Tyson Foods where he established a global reputation as an innovator in food safety technology. He holds two degrees from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University: a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in Chemistry. Griffith resides in Tuscaloosa, Ala., with his wife Sonja. They have two children, Shrader and Will.
New to the 2022-2023 officer corps is David Jackson, chief operating officer of Simmons Foods, Simmons Prepared Foods, Simmons Pet Food and Simmons Animal Nutrition, who will serve as NCC secretary-treasurer. Jackson joined Simmons in 1991 and has more than 32 years of poultry and pet food experience. From October 2016, until his appointment as chief operating officer over all the Simmons companies in October 2018, Jackson was president and chief operation officer of Simmons’ poultry operations. From March 2014 through October 2016, he served as president and chief operating officer of Simmons Pet Food. From 2012 through March 2014, he served as president of Simmons Wet Pet Food division, and from 2007 through 2011, he served as president of Simmons Prepared Foods.
Jackson received a bachelor of science degree in administrative management from the University of Arkansas and a master of business administration degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Jackson resides in Siloam Springs, Ark., with his wife Sasha. They have two grown children, Trey and Julia.
In addition to the three new officers, Mike Brown was elected to a 13th term as president of NCC.
“I look forward to working with the new officers, NCC Executive Committee and Board of Directors to continue to advance the industry’s interests and achieve our shared goals for next year,” Brown said. “This officer corps brings more than 100 years of combined experience in the poultry business and will be a major asset for NCC and the broiler industry.”
