Virginia Agribusiness Council appoints new CEO

The Virginia Agribusiness Council announced Monday that it is appointing Trey Davis, an agriculture industry veteran, as its new president and CEO effective March 3.

The council is a nonprofit member organization that advocates for government policies that support Virginia’s agriculture industry and provides resources and education for agribusiness professionals. In his new role, Davis will focus on enhancing the council’s advocacy efforts at state and federal levels and driving new revenue opportunities. His priorities include expanding membership and fostering partnerships among agribusinesses, government agencies and other stakeholders to create more opportunities for Virginia’s agricultural sector.

“I’m humbled and honored to guide VAC through a new era of leadership and advocacy and work alongside our members, partners, and stakeholders to ensure that Virginia remains a national leader in agriculture,” Davis said in a statement.

Davis will replace executive director Cliff Williamson, who wrote in an email that he is leaving March 1.

“The Virginia Agribusiness Council’s Board of Directors have determined that a change in leadership is needed,” Williamson wrote.

Williamson, who has served as executive director since November 2022, declined to elaborate on why the change in leadership was happening when contacted Monday. He said he was grateful for the opportunity to have spent the last two and a half years “with such a substantial group of leaders, producers, and change makers.”

“Serving Virginia’s agricultural and forestry communities has always been my dream, and I am grateful for the chance to play a small part in this great work,” he wrote in an email. “I am grateful for words of encouragement I have received of these last few days, and I hope to find a new opportunity within Virginia’s great agricultural community.”

Board member Lindsay Reames explained that the Virginia Agribusiness Council restructured the role from president and CEO to an executive director a few years ago. She said the council tried the executive director role for a couple of years but decided to return to a president and CEO position to represent their interests better. She said the new position has different requirements and more responsibilities, and “we wanted to find a candidate that could really meet those requirements of executive-level leadership.”

She said the council felt based on Davis’s expertise and leadership in this area, “he was a really good fit for this goal to really take the council to the next level.” She declined to elaborate on Williamson’s performance as executive director, saying she couldn’t comment on personnel matters.

According to a news release from the council, Davis has more than 17 years of agriculture industry and leadership experience and previous government relations roles at the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, Monsanto, Bayer CropScience and Tetra Pak. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech and his master’s in business administration from Virginia Commonwealth University.

“We are excited to have Trey Davis at the helm of the Virginia Agribusiness Council,” VAC Board Chair Paul Franklin said in a statement. “His combination of strategic vision, industry experience, and passion for agribusiness makes him uniquely qualified to lead VAC through its next phase of growth and reinvention.”

Matthew Lohr, Virginia’s secretary of agriculture and forestry, said in a statement that he’s worked alongside Davis and that he has “relentless passion for Virginia’s agribusiness community firsthand.”