February 13, 2023
Contact:
Marjory Walker
or
T. Cotton Nelson
(901) 274-9030
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Steve Dyer, a Cordova, Tenn., merchant, will serve as Cotton Council International’s (CCI) president for 2023. CCI is the National Cotton Council’s (NCC) export promotion arm and carries out programs in 50 plus countries under the COTTON USA™ trademark. Dyer and other CCI officers were elected at CCI’s board meeting held as part of the NCC’s 2023 Annual Meeting in Dallas, Texas.
A NCC delegate, Dyer currently serves on its Public Relations & International Market Development Committee and is a director of the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, the U.S. cotton industry’s sustainability initiative. He previously has been a CCI director and currently serves on several CCI committees.
“CCI’s objective is clear: increase long-term demand for U.S. cotton,” Dyer said. In 2022, CCI held 40 events in 12 of the biggest cotton-importing countries and had nearly 5,000 participants who said they expect to purchase $4.9 billion worth of U.S. cotton. As CCI president in 2023, I look forward to taking part in these U.S. cotton demand-building events and continuing the successful momentum.”
Dyer, who received his B.S. in Business Administration and Management from the Citadel, is Manager of ProCot Cooperative and Global Head of Cotton Marketing at Louis Dreyfus Company, a leading merchant and processor of agricultural goods with activities that span the entire value chain from farm to fork, across a broad range of business lines. Dreyfus also helps feed and clothe some 500 million people annually by originating, processing and transporting some 80 million tons of products.
Other CCI officers elected are chairman, Carlos C. Garcia, a cooperative official, Lubbock, Texas; first vice president, J. Lee Cromley, a producer, Brooklet, Ga.; second vice president, Carlo Bocardo, a cooperative official, Bakersfield, Calif.; secretary, Gary Adams, Cordova, Tenn.; and assistant secretary, Bruce Atherley, Washington, D.C. Newly elected as CCI treasurer was John C. King, III, a merchant from Helena, Ark.
Elected as CCI directors were Aaron Pena, a Harlingen, Texas, cottonseed handler; Gene Seale, a Pima, Ariz., ginner; Neeraj Rana, a Cordova, Tenn., merchant; Nick Kastle, a Corcoran, Calif., merchant; Wesley Rentz, a Greenville, S.C., merchant; and Matt Dunbar, a Hopkins, Minn., merchant.
Re-elected as 2023 CCI directors were: PRODUCERS – Philip F. Edwards, III, Smithfield, Va.; Barry W. Evans, Kress, Texas; John F. Lindamood, Tiptonville, Tenn.; Richard Gaona, Roby, Texas; Matthew R. (Matt) Hyneman, Jonesboro, Ark.; Neal Isbell, Muscle Shoals, Ala.; and Paul (Paco) Ollerton, Casa Grande, Ariz.; GINNER – George G. LaCour, Jr., Morganza, La; MERCHANT – Beau Stephenson, Richardson, Texas; COOPERATIVES – Frederick Barrier, Greenwood, Miss.; Donald A. Robinson, Garner, N.C.; and Kevin Brinkley, Lubbock, Texas; WAREHOUSEMAN – Vance C. Shoaf, Milan, Tenn.; and MANUFACTURERS – Robin Perkins, Sanford, N.C.; and James Martin, Gastonia, N.C.