(Springdale, AR)  There's been a turnover at the top of Tyson Foods.

     The Board of Directors has chosen Donnie Smith, currently senior group vice president of Poultry and Prepared Foods, to be the company's president and chief executive officer, effective immediately.

     Jim Lochner, currently senior group vice president of Fresh Meats, has been named the company's chief operating officer.

      Chairman of the Board John Tyson said, thanked Leland Tollett stepping into the CEO role earlier in the year to help turn the company around.

      Tollett, who served as interim president and CEO of the company since January, will continue in the coming months to assist Smith and Lochner in the transition

     Donnie Smith, 50, joined Tyson Foods in 1980 after graduating from the University of Tennessee with a degree in Animal Science. After seven years experience in various live poultry production jobs, he moved to the corporate headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas.



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