(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) – The Cotton Board is pleased to announce William A. “Bill” Gillon as its new President and CEO. Cotton Board Chairman Craig Shook, a producer from Corpus Christi, Texas, stated “Bill brings an outstanding record of achievement and service within the cotton industry to the Cotton Board. He is respected throughout agriculture as well as the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He shares our goal of ensuring the Cotton Research and Promotion Program is utilized to increase consumption and enhance demand of cotton for the benefit of brands, retailers and cotton producers.”
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Gillon is currently the principal of Gillon & Associates, PLLC, a law firm specializing in agriculture and business law. He has been active in agriculture law and policy for more than 25 years, having served as General Counsel to the National Cotton Council of America, Senior Counsel for the Committee on Agriculture Nutrition and Forestry of the U.S. Senate, and as an attorney in the Office of General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Gillon has also served as an official advisor to the U.S. Government on agricultural trade matters and as a board member of several local organizations.
Gillon has worked on the cutting edge of legal and business developments in agriculture and has experience with new innovations, like electronic warehouse receipts, precision agriculture, genetically enhanced commodities, and organic agriculture. His legal work for the cotton industry includes defending the Cotton Research & Promotion Program from constitutional challenges and representing the industry in the World Trade Organization case brought against the U.S. cotton program by Brazil. While in Washington, DC, Gillon wrote significant pieces of agriculture, agricultural trade, and conservation legislation and regulations implementing important conservation and agriculture programs.
Chairman Shook, who led the Search Committee comprised of Cotton Board producer and importer members added, “I want to thank the Search Committee members for their time and dedication to our task. We were very deliberate and thorough during this process. We were also intent on selecting a CEO who understood the mission of the Cotton Board and who could craft a long-term vision for our organization. With Gillon’s leadership, I am confident the Cotton Board will rise to meet new challenges and will ensure our research and promotion program continues to be the best in the world.”
Shook and other board members made a point to thank Lisa Droke, Vice President of Finance & Administration, who has served as interim CEO when commenting on Gillon’s hire. “Lisa Droke and the entire Cotton Board staff have performed admirably over the last few months to ensure the Cotton Board continued carrying out its mission professionally and expertly,” said Shook.
Gillon will begin his new role as the Cotton Board’s CEO on October 18, 2010. Gillon and his wife, Adrienne Pakis-Gillon, live in Germantown, TN, and have two children.
About the Cotton Board:
The Cotton Research & Promotion Act established the Cotton Board as a quasi-governmental, non-profit entity to serve as the administrator of the Cotton Research & Promotion Program. Funded by America’s cotton producers and importers through the cotton check-off, the Program’s research and promotion activities are conducted worldwide by Cotton Incorporated, the Cotton Board’s sole-source contracting organization, to increase the demand for and improve the market position of cotton.
Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, the Cotton Research & Promotion Program continues to work in all areas of cotton’s pipeline – from the field to the consumer – to keep cotton the number one fiber choice in the U.S. For more information about the Cotton Board and the innovative activities stemming from the Program, visit www.cottonboard.org.
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