Veteran Kansas Corn, Missouri Pork, Leaders to Receive Dillingham Awards for Agricultural Service
/
Greg Krissek
Don Nikodim
Kansas City, MO— The Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City will recognize Greg Krissek, CEO Emeritus of Kansas Corn, and Don Nikodim, the retired Executive Vice President of the Missouri Pork Association (MPA) with the Jay B. Dillingham Award for Agricultural Leadership and Excellence.
Said Council spokesman Zach Helder, “Greg and Don are richly deserving of the Council’s recognition. In addition to their decades of advocacy on behalf of Kansas and Missouri agricultural producers, their leadership helped shape the economic and policy landscape for corn and meat production and fuel Kansas City’s growing status as the agricultural capital of the U.S.”
The Council will formally recognize Krissek and Nikodim at the Council’s annual awards luncheon on May 15, 2025.
About the Honorees
Greg Krissek, a native of Kansas City, Kansas, served as CEO of Kansas Corn (Kansas Corn Growers Association and Kansas Corn Commission) from 2014 to 2023, transitioning to CEO Emeritus and now serving as Senior Advisor. With over 35 years of experience in agriculture, ethanol, renewable energy, and public policy, he has held leadership roles at the Kansas Department of Agriculture, Kansas Corn, ICM Inc., and Kennedy and Coe, LLC.
Krissek has served on numerous ethanol and agricultural boards, including seven ethanol plant boards, as well as Growth Energy, National Sorghum Producers and AFA. He co-chairs the Triazine Network and is a member of the US Grains Council’s Middle East North Africa Asia Advisory Team. He previously chaired the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City and the Kansas FFA Foundation Board of Trustees and was with a member of the Farm Foundation Roundtable and National Corn Growers Association. He and his wife, Beth, live in Manhattan, KS.
Don Nikodim served as Executive Director of the Missouri Pork Association from December 1983 until 2024. In that position, he led fundraising for and construction of the new office facilities in 1985 and the Pork Place restaurant at the Missouri State Fair in 2009. In addition to traditional programs of promotion, research and consumer information, Nikodim led a focus on leadership, youth activities and producer education. Additionally, he served as a lobbyist at the state level to represent the Missouri Pork industry, and on numerous committees and task forces for the National Pork Producers Council, National Pork Board, US Meat Export Federation, University of Missouri, Missouri Department of Agriculture, and related agencies. Nikodim currently serves on the Missouri Agricultural Leaders of Tomorrow Board as well as the State FFA and 4H Foundation Boards.
Previously, Nikodim had worked as University of Missouri Extension Farm Management Specialist, Executive Secretary for the Poland China Swine Record Association, Inc. and as a Vocational Agriculture Instructor at both Liberty and Odessa, Missouri. He and his wife Betty live near Hallsville, MO and his primary hobby is collecting and restoring old farm tractors.
About The Jay B. Dillingham Awards
Each year, the Council recognizes two leaders—one in Kansas, and one in Missouri— with the Dillingham Award. The award recognizes individuals who “embody the entrepreneurial spirit and drive the economic growth of the Heartland’s agribusiness industry.”
The Award for Agricultural Leadership and Excellence is named in honor of the late Jay B. Dillingham, who epitomized the qualities recognized by the award. Dillingham was president of the Kansas City Stockyards as well as the Chamber of Commerce for both Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas. The agribusiness institutions which Dillingham first established and led would evolve into the modern Agricultural Business Council.
The Agricultural Business Council first presented the Dillingham Awards in 2009. The 2024 recipients were Dr. Scott Brown, and the late Cliff Becker.