Clint Rivers, president and CEO of poultry specialist Wayne Farms, has taken the reins as chairman of the National Chicken Council.

Rivers was installed during the NCC’s 65th Annual Conference Oct. 30 in Washington, D.C. He succeeds outgoing chairman Mark Kaminsky of Koch Foods.

In his role as chairman, Rivers will work with industry leaders and influencers on strategic

initiatives that impact the chicken industry, advocating for and representing the industry in public

and legislative forums.

“I’ve spent my entire professional career in poultry, so it’s an honor to be named chairman of an organization so impactful and important to our industry,” Rivers says. “It’s an exciting time for us in the chicken industry, and it’s an exciting time to be in this role — new technologies, new requirements, new opportunities.”

Rivers joined Wayne Farms in 2012 as vice president and general manager of the Fresh

Business Unit. Rivers was named chief operating officer in 2016, then president and CEO in 2017. He has overseen a major expansion of company assets and production, including a $300 million modernization of its south Alabama operations, expansion of the company’s small bird program and completion of a new R&D-centered Customer Innovation Center.