Shane Stephens
Shane Stephens, VP of Warehousing for Staplcotn, will add the Cotton Services Division to his managerial responsibilities as of December 31, 2012, due to the retirement of Sterling Jones. He will continue to manage Staplcotn’s Warehouse Division which includes locations in Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, North Carolina and Georgia.
Meredith Allen, President & CEO commented, “Shane began his career here at Staplcotn in 1985 as a field rep in the Cotton Services Division, so he understands this role very well. As head of our Warehousing Division, he has built close relationships with many of our producers and ginners. Putting these two roles together just makes perfect sense. They are both built around establishing relationships with and serving our members in the field.” Stephens became VP of Warehousing in 1996.
Establishing relationships comes naturally to Stephens. This is most easily illustrated by listing his professional accomplishments within the cotton industry. They include serving as Chairman of the Cotton Growers Warehouse Association, Vice President of the National Cotton Council, Director of EWR, Inc. in Memphis, Executive Committee Member of the Joint Cotton Industry Bale Packaging Committee, Delegate to the National Cotton Council, Chairman of the Bale Tag Sub Committee, Past Chairman of the NCC’s Packaging and Distribution Committee, and Member of the Vision 21 Stakeholder Steering Committee.
Stephens is excited and optimistic about overseeing the two divisions. “I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the Cotton Services Division during the first part of my career at Staplcotn. I am really looking forward to reconnecting with our members on a more frequent basis as well as working with the field staff,” he remarked. “Staplcotn is so fortunate to have both the Warehouse and the Cotton Services Divisions staffed with experienced and extremely competent employees. The years of experience acquired so far by Staplcotn’s warehouse managers average more than 20 years. Similarly, in Cotton Services, there’s only one field staff person with less than 10 years experience, but most are within the 20 to 30- year range. And, I will tell you, Sterling has done a great job of training and managing his team. This is going to be a good thing for us and most importantly for the membership.”
