EATON — Henny Penny announced last week President Steve Maggard will retire in May 2024 after four decades with the company, including four years as president.
Maggard assumed the role in 2020 and became the sixth president in the company’s 66-year history. Henny Penny expects to announce Maggard’s successor this spring to support a seamless leadership transition over the next year.
During Maggard’s tenure, the company achieved significant milestones, including multiple years of double-digit growth in sales and employment, several major expansion projects, and the launch of the company’s most recent strategic plan. He led Henny Penny through the COVID-19 pandemic, making balanced decisions that prioritized employee-owners while remaining committed to serving customers.
Since 2019, Henny Penny:
Company-wide revenues grew 49 percent, from $265 million to $395 million.
Experienced rapid growth and job creation, increasing 54 percent from 758 employees to 1,165.
Expanded its executive leadership team to include a Chief Operating Officer, Chief People Officer, Chief Technology Officer, and Chief Customer Experience Officer.
Henny Penny Chairman & CEO Rob Connelly said, “Steve’s retirement next year will mark the end of an incredible career at Henny Penny. Under his leadership, Henny Penny has made significant changes to our strategy while never losing sight of our employee-owners and culture. Though hard numbers can quantify the positive business results of his tenure, it’s impossible to capture his true impact. Steve represents the best of Henny Penny, its founders, core values, and ownership mentality. His easygoing nature and genuine sense of caring balance his tenacity and relentless pursuit of excellence for our employee-owners and customers. In the same way he effortlessly connects with people, he’s unassumingly created an enduring and unforgettable legacy.”
Maggard joined Henny Penny in 1978 as a manufacturing assembler. Since then, his responsibilities have grown extensively. He held a variety of roles within marketing, training, sales, and operations. In 2017, he served as executive vice president before assuming the role of president in 2020.
“I’ve been part of the foodservice industry for more than 45 years, and preparing to leave Henny Penny, our customers, and partners is bittersweet,” said Maggard. “In addition to my Henny Penny family, I’m so thankful to have formed relationships with the world’s best customers, distributor partners, and suppliers over the past four decades as I travelled to more than 60 countries. It’s been an honor to lead Henny Penny and my fellow employee-owners for the last four years. I’ll miss the people, but they’re also the reason I feel confident retiring. I know—without a doubt—that Henny Penny’s incredible employee-owners are the key to the company’s success, and that it will continue into the future. Over the next year, I will remain fully focused on executing our strategy and supporting a gradual, successful transition.”
