Joel Sappenfield Appointed President of Cobb-Vantress Inc.

Joel Sappenfield has been named the next president of Cobb-Vantress Inc., a subsidiary of Tyson Foods Inc.

According to an internal memo authored by Tyson Foods CEO Donnie Smith, Sappenfield will replace Jerry Moye, who announced earlier this year his intentions to retire in 2017.

Sappenfield will move to the new job starting in June.

Sappenfield, a Tyson Foods employee since 1990, began as a front-line supervisor and moved through the management ranks. He is currently the company’s senior vice president of bakery.

Moye joined Cobb-Vantress in 1991, and has served as the company’s president since 2007, just its sixth since its founding in 1916.

Cobb-Vantress, headquartered in Siloam Springs, is a poultry research and development company that produces broiler breeding stock. The company was sold to Tyson Foods in 1994.