JimBretCampbell-web

Jim Bret Campbell Selected As NCHA Executive Director

JimBretCampbell-webJim Bret CampbellJim Bret Campbell will take the reins as the National Cutting Horse Association’s (NCHA) new executive director beginning June 10, the association announced in a press release on May 2.

Campbell most recently served as the Director of Communications and Member Relations for the Texas Cattle Feeders Association in Amarillo, a position he accepted around the first of this year. Previously, he was the Senior Director of Marketing and Communications at the 285,000-member American Quarter Horse Association, where his responsibilities included overseeing the production of the association’s two major publications and their online counterparts. He is also credited with leading the development of several programs including the Ranching Heritage Breeders and Ranching Heritage Challenge.  

Campbell is the NCHA’s fifth executive director – including two interim posts – since early 2012. Jeff Hooper had served as the NCHA executive director for 11 ½ years, until he resigned in early February 2012. Former AQHA Executive Vice President Bill Brewer, briefly served as interim executive director while heading the search for a full-time replacement. Alan Steen, a former Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission administrator, was hired in April and resigned on Aug. 21. Ernie Beutenmiller Jr., the current NCHA president, stepped in as interim executive director from September until Campbell’s hiring. 

The NCHA hired MJM Global Search Inc. in mid-January to assist in its quest to find a full-time leader of its approximately 16,000-member organization. 

“The process to select the NCHA Executive Director took place over several months and much of its success can be attributed to the recruiting process, which included feedback from one-on-one interviews with the Executive Committee, Search Committee, Past Presidents of NCHA, key staff, as well as a survey of all (220) NCHA directors worldwide,” said Beutenmiller Jr. “There was a significant alignment amongst the entire group regarding our strategic issues and priorities as well as the qualities and values of the individual that would be most successful leading the NCHA into the future.

“We are confident that Jim Bret embodies the qualities and values we believe are most important as evidenced by his past record of success in the industry and familiarity with ranching and the western horse industry as a whole.”

Campbell holds a master’s in agricultural education and a bachelor’s in agricultural communication from Texas Tech University. Campbell and his wife, Teri, have two boys, Cash, 9, and Cooper, 6, who enjoy riding horses, playing baseball and snow skiing.

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