Dale Cook joined the Mountaire team in 2018 and quickly made an impact on our company. Dale started his career in law enforcement. He joined the poultry industry in 2000, but after 18 years with Tyson, he was ready to make a change. At Mountaire, he’s found a home. “The culture is what I truly like about the company. At Mountaire, you’re a person, not a number. In a lot of organizations, you get lost in the mix. But the President of the company knows you here. You still have that sense of family here.”

As the HR Complex Manager in our Millsboro plant, overseeing a workforce of almost 2,400 people, his 6 foot 5 inch tall frame is hard to miss in the hallways. But it’s his calm demeanor that helps set the tone for his HR team.

When he was tapped to be the President of the Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc., in 2020, none of his colleagues were surprised. “I think it’s been extremely helpful coming from a poultry processing plant to lead the organization during COVID-19,” Cook said. With so much attention focused on the spread of the virus in the meat industry, all eyes were on how the processing plants were protecting their workforce. “It’s was great to be able to have that inside knowledge of all the things we were doing to be proactive.”

And how has his teamed managed during this crisis? “The team has really pulled together,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of people go above and beyond without being asked. They’ve really stepped up to make sure we’re all doing the best we can do every single day.”

At DPI, he’s been at the helm during one of the most challenging times in our industry’s history. “Having Dale as President has been key in navigating DPI through COVID-19,” said Holly Porter, Executive Director of DPI. “His expertise in human resources during a time when a human health pandemic is impacting our chicken community (not an avian emergency) offers a much broader perspective. And Dale has been the first to recognize that all of DPI’s membership is impacted – from all the chicken companies working on the Delmarva, to the growers that contract with them and the allied businesses that support our community.”

“You always have to find a way to give back and make a positive impact,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to make a difference. I enjoyed being a cop for a lot of reasons, but one of the main reasons was because I could make a positive difference every day. I’ve always believed that If you can help, you should help.”