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  FAST FACTS

November 2009

 

 

NRA Announces 2010 Hennessy Traveler

Dick Crawford recently retired from McDonalds Corporation as Vice President, Corporate Government Relations.  There he directed all the corporation's international, federal, state and local government relations activities. He served as principal government relations advisor to the Board of Directors, CEO and other senior managers, providing guidance and representation in domestic and international matters, developing and coordinating multi-national strategies, and managing the company’s relationships with multilateral agencies. Dick co-chaired and oversaw administration of the McDonald's Federal Political Action Committee. He was promoted to the vice president position from his former position of Senior Director for Government Relations.

Dick is a Foodservice executive with nearly thirty years’ experience in developing and implementing strategies to shape state, federal and international government relations issues. His strengths include identifying prospective opportunities and threats; educating and engaging internal stakeholders; developing complex strategies based on analyses of the issues, applicable legislative or regulatory processes and organizations that could be affected; developing and leveraging relationships with government policymakers, academic experts, nonprofit organizations and other influencers; and building and guiding multi-stakeholder http://www.ih-ra.com/html-ihra/ihra31/image/dick_crawford.gifcoalitions. He has a proven track record and demonstrated capacity to develop these strengths in others. He has significant expertise in a range of issues of interest to the restaurant industry, including food and agriculture, marketing and advertising, international trade, labor, taxation, zoning and consumer trust.

While with the McDonalds Corporation, Dick initiated direct relationships between corporate executives and senior-level policy-makers and between company subject-matter experts and their counterparts in government agencies.  He established partnerships with federal agencies to support their consumer health and safety education programs.  One primary example of this was when he brought representatives of multilateral and national government agencies, nonprofit organizations, major suppliers and retailers together at a global summit to develop action plans for addressing human and animal health risks posed by avian influenza (AI).  This secured an OIE (World Animal Health Organization) standard for cooked poultry products, which both protects public health and allows for continuous supply of poultry products from countries affected by AI. 

Dick is a long-time member of the National Restaurant Association and a past Chairman of National Council of Chain Restaurants.  He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences Food Forum, the Institute of Food Technologists, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Animal and Poultry Diseases Advisory Committee, and the U.S. Department of Commerce/Office of the International Trade Representative’s International Sector Advisory Committee for Wholesaling and Retailing.  He holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts, University of Tennessee.