TCGA SPECIAL REPORT

INCOMING TCGA PRESIDENT

Jerry Multer of Wall, Texas

If optimism and an upbeat attitude are major prerequisites for being the newly elected president of the Texas Cotton Ginners Association, Jerry Multer is the right man for the job in 2010.

As manager of the Wall Cooperative Gin in Wall, Texas, for the past 15 years, he knows the issues that confront ginners. He is an advocate for the Texas cotton industry no matter what kind of economic environment exists.

As if that weren’t enough to qualify him to lead TCGA this year, Multer has also been an officer in the organization for the past two years, serving as secretary and vice president.

“I have always looked forward to the the time I could lead TCGA,” he says. “We have a good staff running the show, and I’ve learned a lot by watching others who have been in industry leadership positions.”

Multer knows firsthand how important TCGA is to the state’s cotton ginners. Whether it’s a labor or regulatory issue, he can attest to how vital it is to have the support of an organization that has served the industry for more than 100 years.

Multer has been around cotton his entire life and was raised on a farm in Ballinger, Texas. His grandfather started a cooperative gin there, and his own father was board president of that gin. As a teenager, Jerry worked at the gin while attending high school.

He went on to graduate from Texas A&M University in 1971 and served in the Air Force before accepting a job with the Production Credit Association. After spending a couple of years in East Texas, he and his wife Donna moved back to Wall where he did some farming and kept his ties to Wall Cooperative Gin.

When the previous manager at the gin retired after 37 years, Multer was offered the job. He has never looked back and is happy to be part of a gin that has a long history dating back to 1950.

The gin’s five-year average is 45,000 bales. Its best year produced an output of 80,000 bales.

As for how he feels about the upcoming year and his role as TCGA president, Multer is confident the organization can deal with any issue as long as staff members Tony Williams, Kelley Green and Aaron Nelsen are assisting.

“I’m very excited about the kind of year we’ll have in cotton this year, and that will make it even better for TCGA,” he says. “As long as the staff points me in the right direction, everything will turn out fine.”

Multer and his wife Donna have two daughters. Melissa is married and lives in Memphis with her husband and two children. Tracie, a dentist, is married and lives with her husband and two children in South Lake, outside Dallas.

The new TCGA president admits to loving gins no matter where they are located. When he travels the state on business, he purposely tries to find a nearby gin where he can go talk to other managers. That’s Jerry’s way of relaxing on long trips.

“I’m the kind of person who could talk all day about ginning,” he says with a laugh. “That’s just the kind of person I am.”