JBS USA hires Kotschwar to head ethics, compliance

GREELEY —  JBS USA, a meat and poultry processor based in Greeley, on Tuesday named Lance Kotschwar head of ethics and compliance for the company’s operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

He will join the JBS USA leadership team, reporting directly to JBS USA’s president and chief executive, Andre Nogueira.

JBS USA is a subsidiary of Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA, which found itself in the crosshairs after the company’s chief executive, Wesley Batista, and his brother Joesley Batista, the company’s former chairman, were embroiled in a corruption and insider-trading scandal in Brazil.

SPONSORED CONTENT

The many benefits of simple, coordinated healthcare

Kaiser Permanente combines health care and coverage in one connected system to maximize employee health and minimize employer costs.

U.S. company officials were quick to say that the Batistas’ legal issues in Brazil had no impact on U.S. operations, yet in the view of some and as noted in legal filings, the issue precipitated the recent sale of JBS feedlots in the United States.

Kotschwar will oversee the company’s global compliance policies and programs, including the code of conduct, whistleblower hotline, global anti-corruption policies, antitrust and competition law, trade compliance and conflict of interest policies.

The policies also will govern Greeley-based Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. (Nasdaq: PPC), of which JBS is a majority stockholder.  

Kotschwar has experience as a regulatory and compliance professional, he spent nearly a decade in the agriculture industry implementing and managing compliance programs and regulatory issues, on top of his nearly two decades of Federal legislative and regulatory experience with the United States Department of Agriculture and both bodies of Congress.

“The appointment of Lance to lead our ethics and compliance efforts reinforces our long-standing commitment to conduct our business in an ethical, responsible manner,” Nogueira said in a prepared statement. “Lance is an expert in agricultural regulatory policy and compliance and has extensive experience with the laws that govern the rules of conduct for our business today. We are honored to add a professional of his caliber to our leadership team.”

Prior to joining JBS USA and Pilgrim’s, Kotschwar served as the chief ethics and compliance officer and vice president for government and industry affairs at The Gavilon Group LLC, a commodity-management firm based in Omaha, Neb.