(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) – The Cotton Board recently held its 2022 Annual Meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona along with Cotton Incorporated’s Board of Directors. During this meeting, board members serving the Cotton Research and Promotion Program reviewed, analyzed, and voted to recommend Cotton Incorporated’s 2023 budget of $87 million to the Secretary of Agriculture. This budget recommendation reflects a $5 million increase from 2022.
The 2023 Cotton Incorporated planand budget remains focused on addressing several key industry issues to increase cotton’s market share and ensure long-term profitability for the industry. Key priorities outlined in Cotton Incorporated’s 2023 plan include enhancing supply chain transparency and cotton’s traceability, increasing producer profitability, enhancing cottonseed’s value, addressing contamination issues, and using marketing to build demand for cotton.
In 2022, we actually received a little over $4 million in supplemental budget from The Cotton Board to take care of some capital needs in a timely fashion,” said Berrye Worsham, President and CEO of Cotton Incorporated. “Since the capital needs were taken care of this year, this $5 million increase for 2023 is very significant and can be immediately used to address major cotton issues and initiatives.” For a full recap of Worsham’s commentary on the 2023 plan and budget, please view the recording of his August 16th Cotton & Coffee episode, here: cottonboard.org/news/video-gallery/.
During its Business Session, The Cotton Board elected a new slate of officers to serve one-year terms, including Sonja Chapman, an Importer from New Jersey, to serve as Chairman of the Board. Chapman is currently the Director of International Traffic and Import Compliance for the Golden Touch / Jaclyn Groups, and an Associate Professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.
Chapman commented on her election, saying, “I am honored to be given this opportunity to serve as Chairman of The Cotton Board. I believe in the work we are doing here, and while I know that there are significant challenges ahead of us, it is clear to me this Program is well prepared to lead the industry through them. I look forward to the challenge of assisting the organization in its continued pursuit of profitability and demand for cotton.”
The full slate of Cotton Board officers is as follows:
- Sonja Chapman, Importer from Boonton, New Jersey, Chairman
- Mark Nichols, Producer from Altus, Oklahoma, Vice Chairman
- Akiko Inui, Importer from New York City, New York, Secretary
- Matt Famer, Producer from Lamesa, Texas, Treasurer
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Contact: Stacey Gorman, Director of Communications (870) 226-1445
About The Cotton Board: The Cotton Research & Promotion Act established the Cotton Board as a quasi-governmental, non-profit entity to serve as the administrator of the Cotton Research & Promotion Program. Funded by America’s cotton producers and importers through the cotton check-off, the Program’s research and promotion activities are conducted worldwide by Cotton Incorporated, the Cotton Board’s sole-source contracting organization, to increase the demand for and improve the market position of cotton. The Cotton Research & Promotion Program continues to work in all areas of cotton’s pipeline – from the field to the consumer – to keep cotton the number one fiber choice in the U.S. For more information about the Cotton Board and the innovative activities stemming from the Program, visit www.cottonboard.org.