Ed Woods Is Named To Meat Industry Hall Of Fame
The Meat Industry Hall of Fame announced the Members of the Class of 2017 with Woods Smoked Meats owner and president Ed Woods making the class.
The class was selected from a lengthy list of distinguished nominees. A record number of votes were cast by current members of the Hall of Fame and the organization’s Board of Trustees.
Other members of the incoming class are Jeffrey Ettinger, Chief Executive Officer (retired), Hormel Foods; Dr. A. Dewey Bond (deceased), Senior Vice President, American Meat Institute; Donnie Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer (retired), Tyson Foods; John Jacobson (deceased), Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer, National Beef Packing Company; Clarence Knebel (deceased), Owner, Knebel’s Processing Plant; and Ralph Stayer, Chairman of the Board (retired), Johnsonville Sausage.
To be qualified for nomination to the Hall of Fame, candidates must have contributed significant innovation, achieved notable business success or otherwise positively impacted their organization, institution or larger industry segment. In addition, those nominees chosen for induction must have undertaken noteworthy community service or philanthropy during their careers and upon retirement.
“We’re extremely excited about the growth of the Meat Industry Hall of Fame. In the few short years since it was founded, it has become a hallmark event attended by and honoring the most influential leaders in the meat, poultry and food processing industries,” said Chuck Jolley, Meat Industry Hall of Fame President and Principal of Jolley & Associates, Kansas City. “As usual, the final tally was extremely close with a half dozen well-qualified people within just a few votes of becoming one of the members of the Class of 2017.”
Rosemary Mucklow, Meat Industry Hall of Fame Senior Board of Trustees and Director Emeritus of the North American Meat Institute (NAMI), expressed her delight at the quality of the Class of 2017. “It represents an excellent cross-section of our great industry, honoring people leading every segment – from the largest to the smallest processors.”
Chris Young, Executive Director of the American Association of Meat Processors (AAMP) and newly appointed member of the Hall of Fame’s Senior Board, made the initial announcement about the members of the new class during the opening ceremonies of that organization’s Annual Convention in Lexington, Ky., Thursday, July 20. Announcing the names of all seven, he expressed particular pride with the Hall of Fame’s recognition of the considerable contributions of smaller producers to the success of the industry.
Steve Krut, also a Senior Board Member and retired Executive Director of the American Association of Meat Processors, was enthusiastic about the members of the Class of 2017 and its first-time recognition of smaller processors. “Year-after-year, the Hall of Fame continues to induct an extremely well-qualified group of men and women who have contributed a great deal to the success of our industry,” he said. “Honoring smaller producers is a well-deserved recognition of their often overlooked hard work and leadership, attributes that are crucial to the success of our business.”
Senior Board Member and retired Executive Director of the North American Meat Processors Association (NAMP) Deven Scott, said, “The incoming Class of 2017 represents the pinnacle, the best-of-the-best, of the meat and poultry industry. We’ve kept to our extremely high standards, year-after-year. It speaks to the overall quality of leadership our industry has enjoyed.”
Tickets to attend this very important and prestigious event are available now.
Reservations can be made by contacting the Meat Industry Hall of Fame by email at Chuck@MeatIndu
Woods earned a degree in food science and nutrition with an emphasis on meats from the University of Missouri. After graduation, he worked at Wilson Certified Foods in Kansas City.
He left to go into business with his father, stipulating they would have to build a smokehouse and curing cooler to begin the production of hams and bacon. With the addition of smokehouses and more efficient equipment, the quality of the cured meats and sausages improved dramatically. Woods started winning awards at the State Meat Processors Convention, State Fairs, the American Cured Meat Championships and the prestigious IFFA Show in Germany.
In 1986, he was elected as a director for the American Association of Meat Processors where he served as first vice president and treasurer. He was AAMP’s President in1991-92. He served on the executive board for six years and was on the Building Committee for AAMP’s new office building in Elizabethtown, Pa. While President, Woods was instrumental in obtaining the 100,000 lb. exemption for small processors as it applied to nutritional labeling. In 1993 Ed and his wife, Regina, led an AAMP sponsored trip to the Peoples Republic of China, serving as hosts and leaders of the trip. Ed has also done consulting work for different meat related companies in the U.S. and Indonesia.
In 1995 Ed, along with Morris Burger, Burgers’ Country Hams, California, Mo. volunteered for an overseas assignment with Winrock International. This organization sends agriculture volunteers to Third World countries to promote production of crops, dairy and meat. His meat products have won almost 650 awards, including 27 medals (13 gold, eight silver, six bronze), and a Cup of Honour from the German Butchers Competition at the IFFA Show in Frankfort, Germany.
He has been awarded 102 plaques from the American Cured Meat Championships at the AAMP conventions, numerous first places at the Missouri and Illinois State Fair, hundreds of awards from the Missouri and Illinois Meat Processors Associations, five Best of Show awards and many first and second place awards from the Hermann Wurstfest.
