Lonnie “Bo” Pilgrim, senior chairman of Pilgrim´s Pride Corporation, was elected an Honorary Life Member of the National Chicken Council Board of Directors at the board meeting held in conjunction with the recent NCC Annual Conference, as a tribute to his many years of service to the industry and to NCC.
“Bo Pilgrim has been active in the industry for over 50 years, has been on the NCC board since 1973, and served as chairman of NCC in 1986-87,” noted Mark Hickman, outgoing chairman of NCC. “We are pleased to honor him and his distinguished service.”
NCC´s rules require that an Honorary Life Member must have served on the board for at least 20 years and has “contributed time and service above and beyond that normally expected of a Director.” Honorary life members may attend board meetings and enjoy all the privileges of membership except for voting power. Because of its size, Pilgrim´s Pride has three voting members on the board.
Pilgrim built Pilgrim´s Pride from a small feed store in Pittsburg, Texas, into a Fortune 500 company that is the largest chicken producer-processor in the world. The award was accepted on Pilgrim´s behalf by his son, Lonnie Ken Pilgrim, the company´s chairman.
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.