Two business leaders from Charlotte, both alumni of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, received the N.C. Poultry Federation’s Distinguished Service Awards for 2001. David Harris, of Harris-Crane Inc., and Jarvis Warren, of J.A. Warren Co. Inc., were honored in August at the federation’s annual convention in Raleigh.

Harris holds a 1942 B.S. degree in animal husbandry and a 1944 M.S. degree in dairy science from N.C. State. He was a founding member of the N.C. Poultry Federation and served on its first board of directors. He also served as president of both the N.C. Feed Allied Association and the Carolina Feed Industry Association. He co-founded Harris Crane Inc. in 1952 and currently serves as that company’s chairman of the board and chief executive officer in Charlotte.

Warren, a 1943 graduate of N.C. State, grew up on a farm in Sampson County, helping his father raise tobacco, cotton and vegetable produce. From N.C. State, he went to work for the N.C. Agricultural Extension Service in Caswell County, moving to Charlotte in 1944 to become assistant farm agent for Mecklenburg County. In the 1960s, after working for a grain broker in Charlotte, he formed the J.A. Warren Co., which acts as sales representative for major vitamin and mineral manufacturers. Warren has served on several feed industry boards and twice has served as president of the Carolina Feed Industry Association.

—Terri Leith