O'Grady in the hot seat

By Philippa Stevenson

The Wool Board has made an internal appointment to replace quitting chief executive Jeff Jackson.

The board's chief operating officer, Mark O'Grady, will head the organisation after Mr Jackson's departure in December.

Mr O'Grady, who joined the board in 1992 to manage finance and corporate development, will step up at a crucial time for the industry and the board which had an $11.4 million deficit this year.

The annual meeting on October 19 promises heated debate on the board's future role, if any.

It will also determine the fate of a proposed, board-funded, $1.7 million business development plan by consultants McKinsey and Co which is seen by some as the industry's last survival chance.

"What farmers are seeking and what is needed is a direction and structure that generates a profitable and sustainable future and it is the development of this future that I am committed to," Mr O'Grady said.

He supported the grower-orchestrated McKinsey project as an assessment of the best way forward, he said.

Mr Jackson resigned last month saying after three years in the wool industry it had had enough of his time.