OAKWOOD, Ga. (October 23, 2008) – Wayne Farms LLC, the fifth-largest vertically integrated poultry producer in the country, has received two prestigious awards for excellence in human resources. The “HREvolution Awards,” presented annually by the Ameritas Group and The National Provisioner, recognize companies in the meat and poultry food industries for innovation and outstanding performance in managing employee benefit programs that not only meet employee needs and maintain employee satisfaction, but also succeed in attracting quality employees, increasing employee retention and establishing the business/company as an employer of choice. Wayne Farms executives accepted the award on behalf of the company at a special ceremony at the company’s Oakwood, Ga., headquarters in August.

“People aren’t assets—they’re our most valuable resource,” said Elton Maddox, Wayne Farms president and CEO as he accepted the awards. “Our human resources team and our communications team have worked tirelessly to engage and energize our workforce, and to help them understand and achieve performance results that impact our success as a company. These awards are recognition of their efforts and a testimony to the high performance standards they aspire to achieve.” The two programs that Wayne Farms was recognized for were “Wayne Farms Optimizes Communications to Attract and Retain the Best Talent,” which focuses on publicizing employee involvement and workplace pride as evidenced through proactive volunteerism and financial support of community programs, and “Wayne Farms Revamps Performance Management System,” which focuses on the success of Wayne Farms’ new performance management system. The corporate human resources team partnered with local HR staff and employees at all of Wayne Farms’ 13 facilities to implement the winning programs. In order to accomplish this, local initiatives were replicated on a company-wide scale with each successful program becoming a standard practice at other locations. The company also promoted the successful programs in each community increasing the value and participation among employees and local residents.

About Wayne Farms LLC

Wayne Farms LLC is the fifth-largest vertically integrated poultry producer in the United States with annual sales exceeding $1 billion. A subsidiary of Continental Grain Company, Wayne Farms LLC owns and operates 13 fresh and further-processed facilities throughout the Southeast producing more than 1 billion pounds of poultry products each year. The company employs more than 9,200 individuals. For more information, please visit https://www.waynefarms.com.