A veteran Washington, DC, farm industry professional, John Keeling, has been chosen new president and CEO of the National Potato Council.
In a press release Tuesday, the Executive Committee said Keeling would come on board in mid-December.
He has been working for the National Food Processors Association as vice president of government affairs. This group is recognized as the industry spokesman on food safety.
Prior to that he served as vice president of legislative affairs with the Animal Health Institute. Before that he served as both director of government relations and deputy director of the Washington office of the American Farm Bureau.
He won't have to move far because the NPC will be moving its office from Denver to the Washington, DC, area in the next few weeks.
Keeling, a native of Corpus Christie, TX,will overlap current director Bud Middaugh. Middaugh will help in the transition and at the annual meeting in San Antonio, TX, in January and will then retire. Keeling lives with his wife and son in Arlington, VA.