The North American Millers’ Association (NAMA) announced that NAMA vice chairman, Robert Harper, was elected chairman of NAMA Board of Directors for the 2018-2020 term, succeeding Mark Kolkhorst of ADM Milling Company (Overland Park, KS). The announcement was made at the annual NAMA Board of Directors meeting held October 19 in Sea Island, GA.

“It has been a pleasure working with Mark Kolkhorst over the last two years and we are indebted to Mark for the leadership he provided our association over the past few years. He's been an exceptional chairman and I want to thank him again for his service to NAMA,” said Jim McCarthy, NAMA president & CEO. “NAMA has been very fortunate to have Mark Kolkhorst as our Chairman for the last two years. Mark has given selflessly of his time and attention to the affairs of the association, helping us all to make our industry stronger and more vibrant,” said Harper.

Robert is president, Hopkinsville Milling Company (Hopkinsville, KY), a miller of flour, corn meal, and grits for retail and food service customers. Robert began his work in the milling industry in 1993 and was previously director of operations and director of new product development at Hopkinsville Milling Company and is the fifth generation of family to work at mill. Robert was the program chairman for NAMA Corn Dry Milling Conference and also represented the American Corn Millers Federation in merger discussions with Protein Grain Products and Millers National Federation in the formation of the North American Millers’ Association in 1998. Robert is the secretary for Hopkinsville Christian County Habitat for Humanity, is the former chairman of Workforce Development board at Hopkinsville-Christian County Chamber of Commerce, and is the former president of Hopkinsville Rotary Club. Robert received his BA from Yale University and an MBA from Northwestern University.

At the same meeting, D. Ford Mennel, president, Mennel Milling Company (Fostoria, OH), was elected NAMA Vice Chairman (2018-2020) and John Wiebold, vice president - North American Direct Material, General Mills-One Global Sourcing (Minneapolis, MN), was elected to serve on the Executive Committee of the NAMA Board of Directors, succeeding Pat Van Osch, Senior Vice President, Operations, Richardson International, Ltd. (Winnipeg, MB, Canada), and Kevin Like, vice president, Commercial/Sales, joined the Executive Committee from ADM Milling Company, replacing Mark Kolkhorst.

Since 1929, NAMA has awarded Honorary Membership as a tribute to individuals with outstanding records of achievement, and years of valuable service to the milling industry. NAMA awarded Honorary Membership to John Gillcrist, Bartlett Milling Company (Kansas City, MO) and Charlie Stout, Chairman, Grain Craft (Chattanooga, TN) on October 19.

John Gillcrist attended the University of Tennessee and joined Central Soya as an accountant after graduation in 1978. John joined Bartlett Milling as Controller in 1983, and quickly ascended to the position of President. He then joined ADM Milling Company as vice president in 1993, and then re-joined Bartlett as president of the Bartlett Cattle Company in 1994 and was promoted to president of Bartlett Processing (cattle & milling) in 1998. John was promoted to chairman of Bartlett Milling in 2007. John has represented Bartlett Milling on the NAMA Board of Directors for a number of years, including two years as NAMA Chairman of the Board. John has also served on the Boards of the Grain Foods Foundation, the Texas Cattle Feeders Association and the National Cattleman's Beef Association. John retired from Bartlett in 2018. John and his wife, Terry, have been married for 41 years, and have four children and seven grandchildren. Over the years, John has been very involved in family, church and charitable work, and is the Founder of Blessed Brian Home, an orphanage in Porumamilla, India.

Charles (Charlie) B. Stout is board chairman of Grain Craft and Board Co-Chair of G&L Holdings. He assumed both roles in January 2014 when Milner Milling, Pendleton Flour Mills and Cereal Food Processors combined to form Grain Craft. Charlie has a well-recognized career of more than 45 years in the flour milling industry. After attending Kansas State University, he started his career at Holly Farms Corporation. He later moved to their division, Dixie-Portland Flour Mills. During his time at Dixie Portland, he served as vice president of sales. In 1990 when Southeastern Mills established Milner Milling Charlie joined the company as one of the original employees and was named vice president. He was promoted to president of Milner Milling in 1993. In 2002 Milner Milling became a fifty percent managing owner of Pendleton Flour Mills L.L.C. and Charlie was named CEO of Pendleton in addition to his role as President of Milner Milling. Following the partnership with Pendleton, Charlie led discussions and the eventual acquisition of Cereal Food Processors – a transaction that tripled the combined size of Milner-Pendleton. This purchase took the company from the seventh to the third largest flour milling company in the United States. Throughout the years Charlie has served with a variety of industry associations. He was a member of the Executive Committee for the North American Millers’ Association, a Board member of the American Bakers’ Association, and Co-Chairman of the Grain Foods Foundation. Charlie is an avid outdoors enthusiast and resides in Chattanooga, TN where many generations of his family have made their home. He and his wife, Beth, have three children.