Recently Dairy Management Inc. (DMI) announced that Tom Gallagher will retire from his three-decade tenure as chief executive officer to embark on other opportunities. The announcement also revealed that the board of directors declared Barbara O’Brien, president of DMI and CEO of the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, as the next CEO for national checkoff.
“Barb has worked with me for 21 years and has great respect in the industry, with the CEOs of every dairy company and she has been part of every major decision I’ve had to make,” Gallagher states. “She going to do a phenomenal job.”
A delivered mission of increased sales and trust is the legacy that the longtime CEO says he hopes he leaves behind. During Gallagher’s stint, he has overseen the creation of management of several organizations that he says have been the vehicle that has brought unity together. This includes dairy organizations like U.S. Dairy Export Council, The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, National Dairy Council, Newtrient, Global Dairy Platform and GenYOUth.
With the countless connections with dairy industry leaders, Gallagher says he is most proud of the relationships he has made with U.S. dairy farmers during his last 30 years. “This is always going to be an important part of my life and dairy farmers will be an important part of my life from the lifelong friends I’ve made,” he says.
One of the many dairy farmers Gallagher has worked closely with is current DMI chair and Pennsylvania dairy farmer, Marilyn Hershey. “I want to thank Tom for his amazing service and accomplishments over the past 30 years. His vision and leadership led DMI to where it is today,” she says.
The CEO defines America’s dairy farmers as hard working, committed and honest and says that he too learned some of the very same values early on through his upbringing. Gallagher was raised by his father, who was a Chicago fireman, along with his mother, who was a waitress. “The fireman values and the waitress values include waking up every day to do your job. It’s about honest, hard work and is full of integrity,” he shares. “That’s why I’ve been able to stay here this long as I’m not going to work with a company that doesn’t align to my value system.”
Beginning with DMI in the early 1990s, Gallagher states he came into the dairy industry that was ‘very fractured.’ “Yes, I think there is going to be the push and pull of prices,” he says. “However, on all the things I feel the industry is very coordinated.”
As Gallagher gets ready to step down, he feels confident in the great organizations that can help dairy farmers. Although, he does not minimize the challenges that U.S. dairy farmers are faced with.
“You’ve got a pricing system that doesn’t work. It’s 90 years old, and it was conceived at a time when there was no international market there,” he says. “Through unity farmers must come up with an agreement. It’s not hard to come up with a plan. It is hard to get an agreement to a plan.”
After devoting his time and energy to the dairy industry for the last 30 years, new things are on the horizon for the longtime leader of national checkoff. Gallagher will be teaching at the University of Notre Dame, as well as get involved with some startup businesses.
