New chair elected at US Tobacco Co-op

Jimmy Hill has been elected chairman of the board at the US Tobacco Co-operative (USTC) in succession to Albert Johnson, who had served as chairman since 2005.

USTC, which is said to be the largest tobacco co-operative in the US, has more than 900 member growers in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. It contracts, buys, processes and markets flue-cured tobacco. In 2010, it was named North Carolina’s Exporter of the Year.

Hill has been a member of USTC’s board for more than 20 years.

He has extensive farming experience, has worked for two multinational tobacco companies, and lived and worked in South America for 10 years.