Joel G. Newman will retire as the president and CEO of the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) in December 2019, he announced in an email to AFIA members on Wednesday.
As part of its succession planning, the AFIA Board of Directors appointed a selection committee in May to lead the recruitment and succession process. Bruce Crutcher, of Micronutrients USA and chair of AFIA’s board of directors, is leading the selection committee, which includes fellow board members:
- Lee Hall of Hallway Feeds (immediate past board chair)
- Tim Belstra of Belstra Milling (board chair-elect)
- Paul Phillips of Maxi-Lift Inc./Southwest Agri-Plastics Inc.
- Jeff Cannon of Diamond V
- Mike Van Koevering of Elanco Animal Health
- Chad Risley of Berg+Schmidt America L.L.C.
“It has been my privilege to represent the industry and lead AFIA through a period of exciting and significant change, and I am truly proud of the many achievements and successes that we have accomplished together,” Newman said in the email.
Newman has been president of AFIA since 2004 and served as chairman of the board of the International Feed Industry Federation from 2015 to 2016. During the early 2000s, Newman worked with members and staff to develop a strategic focus that better aligned the association to meet the future needs of the changing industry and led to the creation of AFIA’s 4 Promises of Member Value. Over the years, Newman expanded the AFIA staff team, adding top talent to deliver on the 4 Promises of providing legislative and regulatory representation and member access to top expertise. AFIA’s education programs and networking events also saw tremendous growth during this time. Newman championed an expanded global focus on the development of international food safety standards and opening more international trade opportunities for the industry. Most recently, AFIA has implemented a Sustainability Initiative, which includes the development of collaborative industry messaging to address consumers’ concerns regarding the animal protein industry. All of this has led to a more than 50 percent increase in member engagement and increased industry value. Newman has also served as president of the association’s public charity, the Institute for Feed Education and Research, since its inception 10 years ago.