http://deltafarmpress.com/cotton/oneill-exchange-1231/
Joe O’Neill: cotton’s man in Manhattan
Dec 31, 2008 8:10 PM, By Larry Stalcup Contributing Writer
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They didn’t grow much cotton where Joe O’Neill was raised. But there have likely been hundreds of thousands of yards of cotton fabric flow through the New York City garment district only a short distance from where he grew up and still calls home.
And as long-time senior official with the former New York Cotton Exchange, and later the New York Board of Trade, this city slicker has always woven a close relationship with those who grow his favorite commodity.
O’Neill began working at the cotton exchange in 1970 after attending Manhattan College. He knew the cotton futures contract inside and out and served as president and CEO of the exchange from 1984 through 1998.
In 1998 the exchange merged with NYBOT, where he served as senior vice president before retiring in 2007. He was responsible for all aspects of cotton and other products traded, including trade relations, marketing, research and development, making sure contracts kept pace with changing industry products and the development of new products.
Retirement didn’t get him too far from the trading floor in New York’s financial district.
When NYBOT merged with ICE in 2007, he became chairman of the ICE cotton committee which oversees the cotton futures contract. He replaced Don Conlin, a long-time friend of O’Neill and the industry who died in 2007.
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Remembering 9/11, O’Neill has seen the best of times and worst of times at the exchange offices. When terrorists attacked the World Trade Center, the NYBOT lost seven exchange members as they were preparing for the day’s trading session.
“It was a terrible day for everyone here and across America,” says O’Neill, who was on a cotton trade mission in India when the Twin Towers fell.
Even though NYBOT’s main World Trade Center facilities were destroyed, it had auxiliary facilities in place and began trading the Monday following the 9/11 catastrophe.
Like the rebound seen after the attacks and the years to follow, O’Neill sees agriculture and the cotton industry getting over the recent slump that followed dynamic prices all in the same year.
“The cotton industry is a very resilient industry and will recover and successfully adapt during these trying times,” he says.
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O’Neill, Joe [MC1970?]
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From: McEneney, Mike (MC1953) Date: January 5, 2009 12:57:13 AM ESTTo: “Jasperfjohn Reinke” Subject: Joseph O’Neill, ’67
>JNews: O’Neill, Joe [MC1970?] chairman of the ICE
Dear John, I believe that Joe is a member of the Class of 1967. Mike [JR: Thanks, Mike. Much appreciated. ]
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