Elton H. Maddox, president and CEO of Wayne Farms LLC of Oakwood, GA., took office today as chairman of the National Chicken Council, the trade association for the integrated chicken production and processing industry. Paul Carter, president and chief executive officer of Foster Farms, Livingston, CA., became vice chairman of NCC, and Greg W. Lee, co-chief operating officer and group president, food service & international, of Tyson Foods, Springdale, AR., became secretary-treasurer.
The new officers were installed during the NCC annual conference held here today and attended by members of the industry from across the country. Officers serve one-year terms.
Maddox, who moved up from vice chairman of NCC, joined Wayne Farms in 1974 and has held a number of management positions with the company, which is the largest subsidiary of ContiGroup Companies, Inc., and the sixth largest poultry integrator in the United States. He became president and CEO in March 2000.
Maddox, who holds a B.S. degree in engineering from the University of Georgia, is a past president of the Georgia Poultry Federation and the Georgia Poultry Processors Association; and is currently chairman of the Georgia Poultry Improvement Association.
He joined the NCC Board of Directors in 1995.
Maddox is married to Claire H. Maddox; he is the father to three daughters and has one grandson.
Carter was named head of the poultry division of Foster Farms in 1998, chief operating officer of the company in 2000, and president and CEO in 2001. Before joining Foster Farms, he was president and chief operating officer of Choctaw Maid Farms in Carthage, MS., general manager of operations for Zacky Farms, vice president and general manager of Perdue Farms in Harrisonburg, VA., and an executive with Foster Farms from 1979 to 1986.
Carter was elected to the NCC Board of Directors in 1998. Carter and his wife, LaRue, have three children.
Lee joined Tyson Foods in 1980 as a regional sales manager, after which he held positions of western division manager, vice president of food service sales and marketing, senior vice president of sales and marketing USA, executive vice president of sales, marketing, research and development, and quality assurance, and president of the food service division. He was named as group president in 2001.
Lee has served as chairman of the board of International Foodservice Manufacturers Association and is a member of the board of Trasgo of Torreon, Mexico. He is a member of ID Magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board. Lee joined the NCC board of directors in 2000.
Lee and his wife, Hannah, reside in Springdale. They have two children and one grandchild.
George Watts of Alexandria, VA, was re-elected 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 95 percent of the chicken products sold in the United States.
