Enhancing connections

CAB board chairman finds new ways to reach out

April 14, 2011

There’s no rigid job description for Chairman, Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) Board of Directors. But the elected, voluntary position entails a lot of responsibility, and those who excel at the job tend to redefine it with passion and energy.

Steve Olson, Hereford, Texas, excels as chairman, says John Stika, CAB president. “He is a staunch spokesman for the brand, and not just to fellow cattlemen. Steve’s been a very visible example of what this brand stands for.”

Elected first to the American Angus Association Board in 2006, Olson ran for and was elected to the CAB board the next year, currently serving his second year as chairman. He’s more than capable of acting as a liaison between the board and CAB executives, reviewing financial activities and everything else one might expect. But there’s more than the expected.

“CAB helped change the whole beef industry, and it is an honor to be a part of that continuing process,” Olson says. He works to evolve and enhance board roles to benefit the world’s leading beef brand and all the segments of the beef industry that it connects.

“We’ve learned how to utilize the board members beyond formal ‘budgetarians,’ ” Stika says. “Steve’s been a great asset in helping us promote our story.”

It’s no passive role. “We’re trying to change the whole atmosphere with the board,” Olson says. “We want to make it more of an open discussion between the board and staff so we can be more aware of all the activities and discuss possibilities to promote the brand.”

He hopes to see positive change not only within the board, but within the entire beef industry.

“One neat revelation I’ve had from my time on the board has been seeing how all the segments of the beef industry are intertwined,” Olson says. Because of that connection he encourages everybody from cow-calf producers to retailers to embrace their partnership and work together: “We are not each other’s enemy.”

He’s also working to connect producers to consumers.

Last year he represented CAB and ranchers in general at the South Beach Food and Wine festival in Miami.  There, surrounded by urban consumers and chefs, he helped put a face on beef production.

More recently, Olson and wife Ginger hosted a ranch tour for Johnson and Wales Culinary School chefs at Olson Cattle Company. The guests saw the entire operation and all of its processes. 

“They had lots of questions and lots of misconceptions, brought on by animal activists,” Olson says. “We tried to resolve these by showing them the handling, care and treatment practices we use to create a wholesome product.”

One of the highlights for Olson was knowing that the information provided would be passed on to students.

“The people we had here are educators. What better place to start than with those who are teaching other people?” he asks.

While Olson may teach, he is also eager to learn.

“Steve is truly a student of the industry,” Stika says. “He doesn’t bring a lot of preconceived notions, but instead asks where the brand needs to go and works to find the best way to get there.”

With the ability to teach and the willingness to learn, Stika says Olson is a great resource to help reduce the disconnect between producers and consumers. Events like the Johnson and Wales chefs’ tour demonstrate how much work needs to be done.

It is up to ranchers to be aware of the gap and to make an effort to inform consumers, Olson says.

“I live on a ranch—I don’t live in a big city—and I don’t always think about their lack of any concept of what we do and where we come from,” he says. 

In the past, consumers trusted farmers and ranchers. “Now that’s not always the case,” Olson says. “We need to educate people and tell them about ourselves and to promote not just our products, but our livelihood.”

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