Kennesaw, July 17, 2015 ─ VJI President and CEO Valerie Jordan and Tax Manager Chris Wiggins attended this year’s U.S. Poultry & Egg Association’s Financial Management Seminar at the Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida held on June 22-24. The seminar helps financial managers to understand the global economic dynamics that affect costs in the poultry and egg industry.

“I’ve spent a large part of my career working in the poultry industry with sales and use tax issues,” says Jordan. “It’s really important for Chris and I to attend the industry meeting so that we can stay current with financial issues and maintain our firm’s contacts with the financial, tax, and accounting people in the poultry business.”

Wiggins had a number of favorite topics that were discussed at the seminar. “I listened to the chicken production economic forecast session led by Terry Barr of CoBank. It was intriguing to hear how goods that are made from corn (drywall, toothpaste, tires, beer medicine, etc.) affect the poultry industry. The government mandate for higher amounts of ethanol in gasoline has driven the price of corn through the roof. In turn, chicken feed, which is mostly made of corn, has increased. Since chicken feed is the largest cost of raising chickens, this has caused a ripple effect in the production process with consumers ending up paying more for chicken. I’ve always wondered why chicken prices change so often and now I know!”

As she has done at previous seminars, Jordan also attended a variety of well-planned programs and listened to speakers who shared valuable information. “Topics for presentations that I attended include a top financial management perspective, cyber security, legal issues, mobile technology, and, of course, taxes,” says Jordan. “What I took away from the seminar will not only help me run my firm better, but will also benefit our clients.”