He will be the CEO for AAA and its subsidiaries: Angus Productions Inc., Certified Angus Beef LLC, Angus Genetics Inc. and the Angus Foundation.

Moczygemba (pronounced “Mitch-eh-gemba”), is a fourth-generation Texan who grew up on a commercial cow-calf operation in south Texas. He graduated from Southwest Texas State University in 1987 with a degree in agricultural communications.

He most recently was vice president of marketing for Advanced Animal Diagnostics and was previously a marketing director for Zoetis Animal Health and Pfizer Animal Health, a manager at Progressive Beef, and a vice president for Farm Journal livestock group.

He and his wife, Venetta, have two adult sons, Lane and Ross.

Progressive Cattleman had the chance to hold an email Q&A with Moczygemba shortly after his hiring.

Q. What influenced you to take the Angus CEO position?

A. Moczygemba: For starters, it’s the American Angus Association – the most successful cattle breed association in the world.

Second, I feel that my collaborative leadership style and management skills will be a good fit for the association.

And, finally, my business background allows me to bring a different perspective to American Angus, which I believe will be beneficial as the association begins work on updating the long-range strategic plan and creating new opportunities for growth in the years ahead.

Q. How would you describe your management and leadership style?

A. Moczygemba: My leadership style is built upon collaboration, building consensus and ultimately creating a culture of empowerment that is energized by a shared vision. It’s also very important to me that all views or perspectives have a seat at the table and not be excluded from having input.

Q. What will be the key objectives you’ll focus on as CEO of the AAA?

A. Moczygemba: Three key areas that I’ll focus upon. First is to ensure that growth for both Angus cattle and Certified Angus Beef continues.

Second is to identify additional opportunities for our members. And third, I want to ensure that the association’s resources are focused and improve efficiencies within the organization.

Q. How transparent do you think AAA should be to its members and public?

A. Moczygemba: I want the association to be as transparent as possible. We have nothing to hide. In fact, the exact opposite is true: The American Angus Association is one of the great success stories in American agriculture and one that we want to share with our members, the cattle industry and consumers.

Q. With your marketing background, what are the key successes of the Angus brand you’d like to build upon? And where can that brand become even stronger?

A. Moczygemba: While there’s been a tremendous amount of growth in demand for Angus cattle in the past decade, we must continue to grow relevance for everyone, from seedstock to commercial users. A high priority will be to develop a more comprehensive focus that creates more value through the chain, especially at the commercial level.

We need to continue exploring how to reach commercial ranchers and providing meaningful programs and services for commercial cattlemen that are technologically based. We need to create a data stream from the packer back to the feeder and ultimately to the ranch to ensure that we have all of the information producers need to make informed decisions about genetics, breeding decisions, etc.

In addition, we’ll want to continue to build upon the record-setting growth of Certified Angus Beef with growth in both domestic and international markets.

Q. The Angus Association has experienced some staff turnover in the recent year. How is morale as AAA moves forward?

A. Moczygemba: Morale is good. While there’s no doubt the association has had some challenges in the past, my sense is that everyone is ready to move forward and work together as a team.

The American Angus Association is a family – albeit a large one – and like all families will have challenges at times. However, those challenges tend to make a family stronger and closer. My family feels blessed that we’ve been embraced and welcomed into the American Angus family. Bottom line is: I’m very fortunate to have the opportunity to lead such a talented and dedicated team.

Q. Will the AAA be doing third-party verification of its EPDs and genomics?

A. Moczygemba: All of our genetic evaluation procedures have been peer-reviewed and published in the Journal of Animal Science. As a result, our processes have been verified by a third party.

That’s our standard operating procedure, and a formalized process has been in place for decades. Angus breeders have made great strides in advancing both performance and quality during the last 10 years. This progress wouldn’t be possible if our genetic evaluation programs – supported by science and bolstered by the growing incorporation of genomics – weren’t working well for producers across the country.

Q. What’s the best counsel or advice you’ve heard since accepting this CEO position?

A. Moczygemba: It’s really simple advice, but as simple as it is, it’s also very important. And that is simply to be myself and to make myself as available as possible to members and staff.