Female Executive Excels in Agriculture Business

Carl Johnson was looking for someone to replace himself as Tyson Foods Inc.’s vice president of asset and risk management, he wanted to hire an equally capable executive. Johnson says he outdid himself.

LaDonna Bornhoft, who replaced Johnson about a year ago, is one of the Springdale poultry company’s top women executives. She oversees all of the $7.3 billion business’ integrated safety functions, including loss control, protection of employees, occupational safety and nursing, truck fleet safety, casualty claims and Tyson Foods’ workers compensation division.

Johnson, now Tyson Foods’ executive vice president of administrative services, says Bornhoft was “an upgrade in know-ledge capital, personality and professional capability.”

“LaDonna is a tremendous asset to our company,” Johnson says. “She’s someone in whom I have immense personal trust and confidence. Her selection is my best long-term decision I have made for this company.”

Unlike a well-known episode of the former TV sitcom “Seinfeld,” in which Jason Alexander’s character “George” tries to figure out the meaning of “risk management” by getting a protege to do his work for him, Bornhoft paid her dues.

The Hot Springs native previously served as vice president of Tyson Foods’ insurance and workers’ compensation subsidiaries, TyNet and National Comp Care. She says that experience helped prepare her for the challenge of making sure the world’s largest poultry producer has adequate and satisfactory coverage for all of its needs.

“Risk management really involves making any decisions that can help and reduce risks for the company,” Bornhoft says. “I help set guidelines for policies, handle issues, oversee departments and purchase insurance for the company. But the main thing I do is try to reduce liabilities and risk.”

After receiving a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a bachelor’s of science degree in political science and a doctorate from the University of Arkansas, she became a defense lawyer at Atchley, Russell, Waldrop & Halvinka in Texarkana.

She later became a legal adviser for the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission. After leaving to spend two years in private practice, she was recruited in 1992 to be a lobbyist and work on business issues for the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce.

“I was working on some issues that got me acquainted with business people around the state,” Bornhoft says. “I got recruited back as the deputy CEO for the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission to help put some policies in place that I had been working on. And then about five years ago I was recruited by Tyson to work for a couple of their newly created companies.

“I was basically in charge of their workers’ comp and third-party administrator divisions.”

Bornhoft inherited the task of revamping Tyson Foods’ insurance department during the company’s 1999 reorganization. She helped implement the Tyson Total Safety Project, which reorganized the company’s safety departments into one division, reviewed safety innovations and devised strategies for providing better service to the company’s diverse business groups.

“Tyson has always been a leader in safety,” Bornhoft says. “But we wanted to look for new opportunities to be better. We also wanted to explore new technology that can help us provide analysis and support needed for those different functions.”

Although Tyson Foods’ roots are in agriculture, a field traditionally dominated by men, Bornhoft says the company has evolved to the point where gender plays no role in daily business.

“In my observation, the company has evolved to where everyone is judged on their merits and work ethic,” Bornhoft says. “It’s what you do and what you bring to the table that matters. There are definitely executive positions out here in agriculture-based companies for women.

“The best advice I could give any young female or male entering the work force is to work their rear end off and keep a positive attitude.”

Bornhoft says she’s also always tried to identify solutions and not just problems. Johnson says that mentality makes Bornhoft one of Tyson Foods’ key executives.

“At the end of the day,” Johnson says, “it’s all about personal integrity, managing with caring, dedication to doing the right things for many stockholders and making good decisions. I have never spent one second worrying about the responsibilities I left in such capable hands.”