Mike Welch, president and chief executive officer of Harrison Poultry, Bethlehem, Georgia, was installed today as Chairman of the National Chicken Council, the trade association for the chicken production and processing industry. Michael Roberts, president of the Food Products Group of Perdue Farms, Inc., Salisbury, Maryland, took office as Vice Chairman, and O.B. Goolsby, Jr., president and chief executive officer of Pilgrim´s Pride Corporation, Pittsburg, Texas, became Secretary-Treasurer.
The new officers were installed during the NCC Annual Conference held in Washington, D.C., and attended by members of the industry from across the country. Officers serve one-year terms.
Welch moved up to chairman from vice chairman. He has been a member of the NCC board since 2002 and has served on the NCC Executive Committee.
Welch has been in the industry since 1967 and has held various management positions at several major poultry companies. He has been president and CEO of Harrison Poultry for 16 years. Welch serves on the boards of several industry organizations, including the Georgia Poultry Federation, the Georgia Poultry Improvement Association, and the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council (USAPEEC) International Poultry Development Program. He is also active in many local and civic organizations.
Welch and his wife, Becky, live in Winder, Georgia. They have two children.
Roberts has been head of the Food Products Group at Perdue Farms since 2005 and was previously president and general manager of the Retail Division. He joined Perdue in 2002 after serving in senior positions at several other poultry companies. He has been in the poultry industry since 1972. Roberts has served on the NCC Board of Directors for two years as a Perdue representative and served from 1996 to 1998 as a representative of Foster Farms, Livingston, California. He is a member of the board of the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, based in Tucker, Ga.
Roberts and his wife, Breda, live in Salisbury, Maryland. They have two daughters and a granddaughter in Atlanta, Georgia.
Goolsby was elected to the NCC board in 2005. He was elected president and CEO of Pilgrim´s Pride in September 2004 after serving as president and chief operating officer for two years. He served as executive vice president for Prepared Foods Complexes from 1998 to 2002, and previously served for six years as senior vice president, Prepared Foods Operations, and for five years as vice president, Prepared Foods Complexes. Goolsby joined Pilgrim´s Pride in 1969 at its distribution center in Mt. Pleasant, Texas, and one year later moved into plant sales. He holds bachelor´s degrees in business administration from Baylor University and in petroleum geology from the University of Oklahoma.
Goolsby and his wife of 40 years, Barbara, live in Mt. Pleasant, Texas. They have three children and nine grandchildren.
George Watts of Alexandria, Virginia, was elected to another term as president of NCC, a post he has held since 1972.
The National Chicken Council represents integrated chicken producer-processors, the companies that produce, process and market chickens. Member companies of NCC account for approximately 95 percent of the chicken sold in the United States.
