CBB Hires New CEO

The Cattlemen’s Beef Board Executive Committee has announced the hiring of Tom Ramey as their new Chief Executive Officer effective May 1st.  Report (:15 wma)

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (March 20, 2007) – Tom Ramey will take over as Chief Executive Officer of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) effective May 1, 2007, the Board’s Executive Committee announced this week. Ramey, now CBB’s Chief Financial Officer, will take the reins from current CEO Monte Reese, who retires April 30 after 17 years of service to the Beef Board. 

 “We talked about undertaking a search for a new CEO, but after extensive discussion, we determined that we had just what we needed right on the existing Beef Board staff,” said CBB Vice Chairman Dave Bateman, who chairs the Board’s Executive Committee. “We talked a lot about the types of competencies that we need in a new chief executive officer to keep leading the Beef Board and our staff in the right direction during the coming years, and we agreed that Mr. Ramey had the right combination of the administrative abilities, communications skills, integrity and character that we need.” Ramey has served as CFO for the Beef Board for about 13 years, whereby he has been responsible for all accounting and financial functions of the Board. Prior to his work for CBB, Ramey was an audit manager with a major accounting firm and was director of operations and director of worldwide internal audit for an international software company. 

Reese, who announced his plans to retire early this year, said he is very pleased with the Executive Committee’s selection. “I am 100 percent supportive of the Executive Committee’s decision to move Tom into this position,” Reese said. “He has the knowledge, skills, management ability and, most important, the personal integrity to lead this program in the direction that best benefits the cattle producers and importers who fund this self-help program.” Beef Board Chairman Ken Stielow, who has worked closely with Ramey during the last couple of years, is equally pleased with the hire. “This is a tough position, and Monte’s are big shoes to fill,” Stielow said, “so we feel particularly lucky to be in a position to promote from within and not get sidetracked with some unnecessary and expensive search process. I have no doubt that we have made the right decision here.” 

__________________________  The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.