Cobb-Vantress announces global leadership changes
by July 9, 2019 7:51 pm 1,450 views
Siloam Springs-based broiler breeder Cobb-Vantress announced Tuesday (July 9) the appointment of Shane Sutton as managing director of South American operations and the promotion of Joe Emmanual to chief financial officer for global operations.
Sutton previously served as CFO for global operations and led finance, mergers and acquisitions for the company’s business units, including the recent launch of a grandparent stock operation and new subsidiary in Columbia.
“Shane will lead our South American operations into its next phase of growth as we focus on meeting the rising demand for poultry in the region,” said Stan Reid, vice president of North and South American operations for Cobb-Vantress. “With his previous experience in Latin America and the leadership he showed as our CFO, Shane is uniquely qualified to take on this role.”
Before starting at Cobb, Sutton worked as senior group controller for Latin America for Springdale-based meat producer Tyson Foods. He was at Tyson Foods for more than 10 years and also worked in several senior audit leadership roles. He started his career as an accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and worked overseas primarily. He was raised on a pullet farm where his father served as a technical service adviser.
Emmanual was senior director of accounting for the past four years before he was promoted to CFO for global operations. He joined Cobb in 2015 after working as a senior business analyst and external financial reporting specialist at Tyson Foods.
“These leadership changes best position Cobb to continue to grow and innovate in the industry,” said Joel Sappenfield, president of Cobb-Vantress. “We are excited to see what Shane and Joe will accomplish in their new roles as we collectively work to achieve our mission of bringing healthy, sustainable and accessible protein to the world.”
Cobb recently has expanded production and hatchery capacity, renovated farms and increased environmental controls and automation in South America. Cobb has more than 700 employees across the continent with operations in Brazil, Argentina and Colombia. Cobb started operating in Brazil in 1995. The country is the second-largest producer of poultry in the world and the largest exporter of poultry meat, according to the news release.
Established in 1916, Cobb is the oldest broiler breeder in the world and relocated its corporate headquarters to Siloam Springs, from Concord, Mass., in 1986. Tyson Foods purchased Cobb in 1994.