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PYCO Prepares for Leadership Change

By Cristina Mueller

Gail Kring

Gail Kring

The Board of Directors of PYCO Industries, the largest cooperative cottonseed oil mill in the United States, has named Gail Kring president and chief executive officer upon Wayne Martin’s retirement from the position on Oct. 1, 2002. The board made the announcement on Jan. 28.

Kring has been employed by the company for 36 years, including 18 years as senior vice president. The board considered his knowledge of cotton ginning and the cottonseed industry a key asset, according to Chairman Keith Streety.

“His vast experience will be a huge plus for the member gins and producers,” Streety said. PYCO is owned by 160 cooperative gins and includes two oil mill locations: Lubbock, Texas, and Greenwood, Miss. For more than 60 years, the company has been crushing cottonseed and manufacturing cottonseed oil along with other by-products such as cottonseed meal, hulls and linters.

Kring also is a member of the National Cotton Council Executive Committee, the Texas Food and Fiber Commission’s Industry Advisory Committee and the Texas Agricultural Cooperative Council’s Board of Directors. In addition, he is the current president of the National Cottonseed Products Association and serves on the Cotton Council International Board of Directors.