On February 11, 2011, the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame will induct four new members. Each of the new inductees has impacted the state not only through his success in commerce, but also by his compassion for the community.
Here is a brief look at Leland Tollett, Former Chairman and CEO, Tyson Foods, Inc.:
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| Leland Tollett |
Leland Tollett earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in poultry science and nutrition from the University of Arkansas and immediately went to work for Tyson Feed and Hatchery Inc. As director of research and nutrition, he led the company’s efforts to establish scientific poultry management practices.
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| University of Arkansas alumnus Leland Tollett joined Tyson Feed and Hatchery Inc. in 1959 as director of research and nutrition. |
Tollett soon moved up the ladder to vice president of the Broiler Division and corporate vice president and then president of the Production Division. Don Tyson and Tollett formed a leadership team along with Buddy Wray, who headed sales and marketing. Together they were responsible for the phenomenal growth of Tyson Foods Inc. In 1981, Tollett became chief operating officer; in 1983, he was named president and chief operating officer; and in 1984, he was elected to the board. He became CEO and chairman of the board in 1985.
He said, “I had been taught from an early age that hard work, loyalty and persistence were important, and that if you did a good job for somebody, it would not go unnoticed.”
Tollett played a key role in leading and integrating Tyson Foods many major acquisitions. He said, “Don and Buddy or two or three of us, we’d go to the office on Saturday morning. We would brainstorm this or that. When we bought Valmack Industries, one Saturday morning, we wondered what the Bass Brothers are doing; let’s try to buy it. Monday morning, we could hardly wait till the phones got hot. That’s how things happened then.”
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| Don Tyson and Leland Tollett worked closely together to lead Tyson Foods to become one of the world's leading producers of chicken, beef and pork. |
Tollett reflected about his time at Tyson Foods, “I hardly ever looked at my job as a real job and never thought, I’ve got to go to work. I always thought, boy, I get to go down and do something today. I thought it was great.” He retired from Tyson in 1999, but returned as interim president and CEO for six months in 2009.
He said, “It’s a wonderful experience to get to do the things we did. Growing up and going to work for a company that was very, very small and not having the aspirations to anything great, just whatever came along, but we thought we could do whatever we set our mind to.”
For more information on the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame and the other three inductees, Dickson Flake, Wallace Fowler and Don Soderquist, go to:
http://waltoncollege.uark.edu/news/view.asp?article=779 and
http://waltoncollege.uark.edu/abhf/default.asp.
