Joined RVA757 Connects: 2026

George Y. Birdsong is the CEO and General Counsel of Birdsong Corp., the largest peanut sheller in the United States, with roots tracing back to 1914 when T.H. Birdsong opened a general farm store in Courtland, Virginia.

Today, the company buys carefully selected peanuts directly from farmers' fields, cleaning, shelling, sizing, and shipping them to manufacturers who produce popular food items sold around the globe.

A Suffolk native, Birdsong earned a Bachelor of Arts from Washington and Lee University in 1961 and a law degree from the University of Virginia in 1964, before practicing law with Godwin & Godwin Law Firm.

He went to work for the family peanut business in 1965 as secretary treasurer and held various executive positions before becoming CEO in 1999. He is the third generation of his family to run the company, which now employs members of the family’s fifth generation.

Birdsong has been a longtime civic and philanthropic leader.

He is also the founder and president of the Birdsong Health Literacy Center of Excellence, a nonprofit working to improve health literacy and build stronger, healthier communities across the Hampton Roads region through community-driven education initiatives.

He has been involved in many regional and state organizations including Virginia Wesleyan University, Virginia Manufacturers Association, Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Nansemond River Preservation Alliance, Business Consortium for the Arts, Hampton Roads Business Roundtable, Suffolk Foundation, United Way, YMCA, and Nansemond-Suffolk Academy.