Drayton Mayers, CEO of the Cotton Board, has tendered his resignation to me in a letter to Larkin Martin, chairman of the Cotton Board.

“I have made this decision because I have done all that I can to lead and manage the Board during the transition from my predecessor to today,” Martin said in quoting Mayers’ letter.

“His intention is to resume his career in international trade and market development. The Board’s executive committee and I have accepted Drayton’s decision. Drayton has agreed to remain available to the Cotton Board during this transition should we have questions for him related to ongoing Cotton Board projects,” Martin said in a Cotton Board press release.

“During his tenure, Drayton has strengthened the Cotton Board’s operational performance with an emphasis on improving both our internal and external policies and procedures. He has identified and recruited talented new staff members to join our experienced employees, thereby strengthening the entire Cotton Board team.

“Under Drayton’s leadership and propelled by an excellent staff, we have successfully implemented the Cotton Board’s new governance initiative, modernized our collections process, deployed a new regional communications team, improved financial controls and significantly improved our IT capabilities in ways that are improving all areas of our work. All of this has been accomplished under a reduced budget.

“We appreciate Drayton’s hard work and his devotion to this organization and this industry. We know he will bring his energy and talent to his next task and we wish him all the best,” Martin said.

“Going forward from … I will put together a search team comprised of Cotton board members to begin the search for a new CEO. In the interim, our current VP of Finance and Administration, Lisa Droke, has agreed to serve as acting CEO.”