Football Hall of Fame member Kenny Houston helped Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) president and CEO Bob Dinneen get the early activities for the 20th annual National Ethanol Conference underway on Ash Wednesday in Dallas.
Houston is a former American football defensive back who played for the Houston Oilers and then the Washington Redskins between 1967 and 1980, but today he was on the golf course instead of the football field for the annual NEC golf tournament. While he was greeting golfers, two bus loads of conference attendees headed to downtown Dallas to step back in history and learn more about that fateful day in November 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
Dinneen is excited to be celebrating 20 years of ethanol this year and happy to see so many from the industry making the trip to Dallas this week. “We’re coming off the single most profitable year in the industry’s history, but at the same time we’re looking at another tough year – it’s a commodity market,” said Dinneen. “But this is an industry that has been seasoned, that has seen tough times, that has seen good times, and is prepared for either.”
The theme of this year’s conference is “Going Global” and Dinneen says the program will focus on the future of the ethanol industry in the export market, which Dinneen says is already booming. “It was critical to the industry’s profitability last year,” said Dinneen, noting exports of 836 million gallons, or about six percent of production, to over 50 countries worldwide.
Listen to Chuck’s interview with Bob here and tune in at 8:10 am Central time to hear his state of the industry speech live: Interview with Bob Dinneen, RFA