The National Poultry & Food Distributors Association (NPFDA) awarded two Industry Leaders during its Awards Reception at Annual Poultry Convention at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta on January 29. Marci Walker, Corporate Director of Sales of Kelly’s Foods in Winter Garden, Florida was awarded the coveted Member of the Year Award. Pete Martin, the Senior Vice President of New Business Development from Mar-Jac Poultry in Gainesville, Georgia Farms was awarded The NPFDA Lifetime Achievement Award.
Marci Walker joined the NPFDA Board 5 years ago and was named the First female president in 2018. She has remained involved throughout the transition of NPFDA’s new Executive Director and is a huge supporter of the organization both personally and professionally. She is always eager to assist wherever needed, to ensure that the organization stays strong. She has remarked that her favorite aspects of NPFDA are the people and networking opportunities as she has met some of her closest friends and work colleagues through NPFDA’s various events.
Although recently officially retired from Mar-Jac, Pete serves on the Board of Directors for Mar-Jac Georgia and the Mar-Jac Alabama/ Mississippi Board and works on special projects for Mar-Jac. Pete has had 50 years of experience in poultry management having worked for Wilson Foods which is now Tyson, then Peterson Farms; and the last 39 years at Mar-Jac Poultry as Complex Manager, followed by Senior Vice President, Poultry Operations and Senior Vice President, New Business Development. Pete said that he stayed at Mar-Jac so long because there was so much opportunity for growth. He enjoyed working for the owners of Mar-Jac who were honest and had the highest integrity. Pete has served as the Vice President and President of the Georgia Poultry Federation and is now a Life Member. He served on the Board of Directors of the National Chicken Council and the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association. When asked if he had any words of wisdom, Pete said that at Mar-Jac, they always said, “You can never go broke making a profit!” Pete’s own philosophy is, “You can never go wrong by doing what’s right.”