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Feb. 19, 2010 Source: Agricultural Retailers Association news release The Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) welcomed a new group of industry leaders to their Board of Directors during the recent ARA Conference & Expo in Florida. The new board members represent various sectors of the agriculture industry including retailers, distributors, state association leaders, and manufacturers of fertilizer and crop protection products. "ARA appreciates the time and effort provided by the leaders who rotated off of the board in December. With their support and guidance, ARA had a strong year in 2009 marked by achievements in the policy arena and solid fiscal performance," said Daren Coppock, ARA president and chief executive officer. "We welcome our new board members and the depth of knowledge and experience they bring to the organization's decision-making process." Harold Cooper, Premiere Ag Co-op Harold Cooper currently serves as CEO and general manager of Premiere Ag Co-op, a $125 million dollar farm supply and grain cooperative located in southern Indiana. Premiere Ag's business units include agronomy, fuel, grain, propane and retail. Cooper has worked within the cooperative system since his first position as a Purdue University intern in 1977. He then served a crops branch manager for three years in Seymour, Ind. In 1986, Cooper was given the opportunity to oversee the marketing efforts for Countrymark Co-op. He was responsible for managing seed operations for CountryMark and GROWMARK from 1993 to 1999. Cooper has also served on several agricultural boards and committees, including serving as a Member of the Governor's Indiana Agriculture Regulatory Task Force in 2008. Dave DuFault, J.R. Simplot For over 20 years, Dave DuFault has worked for Simplot in a variety of roles. He now serves as the company's Vice president and general manager of the Agribusiness Retail Division. Prior to this position, he served as a crop advisor and unit manager at their East Grand Forks, Minnesota location, and later, was appointed area manager for the Red River Valley. DuFault grew up on a small grain and soybean farm in northwest Minnesota. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Agronomy from North Dakota State University in Fargo, ND. In addition to serving on the ARA board, DuFault is also on the board of directors for the Western Plant Health Association and the Tenkoz organization. He and his wife Terri Beth reside in Boise, ID. Dave Finken, Mosaic Dave Finken began working for Mosaic in November 2006. He now serves as the sales director for the eastern half of North America. His team manages supply plans, logistics and pricing programs. They also work with Mosaic's product line and supply chain on marketing strategies and to ensure smooth product movement and customer satisfaction. Previously, Finken held Midwest management positions for Bayer CropScience, Aventis CropScience and Rhone Poulenc. He also worked for American Cyanamid Company for 12 years, and started in the agri-chemical business with Shell Chemical Company in 1981. Finken has a B.S. degree in Ag Economics from the University of Nebraska in 1980 and an M.B.A. in Marketing and Sales Management from the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management. He and his wife Jan have three children and reside in Shorewood, MN. Denny Gibeson, DeBruce Fertilizer Denny Gibeson currently serves as vice president of DeBruce Fertilizer Inc. He joined the company in 1979 to launch DeBruce into the fertilizer trading business. DeBruce Fertilizer currently owns and operates retail agricultural service centers in Texas, Nebraska and Iowa; and supplies wholesale fertilizer to other retailers through the DeBruce terminal distribution system. The DeBruce Companies market grain, fertilizer and feed ingredients throughout the United States and Mexico. Denny Gibeson is a 1974 graduate of Kansas State University. He is a member of ARA's Public Policy Committee. Jim Klein, Centennial Ag Jim Klein founded Centennial Ag Supply, Co, a regional agricultural retail company, in 1976. Centennial Ag Supply services portions of Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska, and is an owner and member of IAP. The company was the originator of zone management and has developed several patents for precision agriculture. Klein has spent 10 years assisting in the set up of Teen Drug Abuse programs in the Colorado Front Range and established a company that publishes books for parents of children with drug addiction. He has a degree in Agricultural Economics from Colorado State University and currently serves on ARA's Public Policy Committee. A.J. Outlaw, Coastal AgroBusiness AJ Outlaw is the marketing manager for Coastal AgroBusiness, INC. in Greenville N.C. Coastal has over 30 products under their label, which include adjuvants, nutrients, and growth regulators. AJ received his B.S. in Agronomy from North Carolina State University. He has been involved in agriculture retail sales for 20 years and has served 15 of those years with Coastal AgroBusiness. AJ has been in his current role, as marketing manager, since 2001. In addition to being an ARA board member, he is also a member of the NC Crop Protection Association and the Southern Crop Production Association. He currently serves on ARA's Public Policy and Conference Planning Committees. Martin Petersen, Cheminova In 2008, Martin Petersen joined Cheminova's Global Executive Group as president of the ANZAC region, which covers the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. He was born in South America and spent the first 20 years of his life in Chile, Guatemala, Iran and Germany. Petersen moved to the United States and earned a Masters Degree in International Business from the University of South Carolina. Prior to joining Cheminova, he worked in a variety of domestic and international management positions for several companies in the agriculture industry including Helena Chemical Company, Bayer CropScience and the Gowan Group. During his years with Bayer CropScience, he held managerial positions on a few continents including South America, South Africa and Eastern Europe. In 2002, he managed the commercial integration of the Aventis organization into Bayer CropScience. Currently, Petersen resides in Research Triangle Park, NC, the new regional headquarters for Cheminova. Bob Trogele, Ph.D., North America Director for FMC Agricultural Products Bob Trogele, Ph.D., has been instrumental in leading FMC in its strategy of supporting and growing with key retail and channel partners. Now in his sixth year with the company, Trogele has lead the company in product expansion efforts with over 20 new product introductions and numerous label expansions in a growing number of crop segments. Prior to joining FMC, he held numerous executive positions in the United States and Europe for Bayer, Aventis, and Hoechst Schering AgrEvo. Trogele has always been involved in agriculture. He grew up working on the farm his family owned in the Bavaria region of Germany for over 500 years. Tom Tunnell, Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association With over 25 years of experience in agribusiness, Tom Tunnell brings extensive knowledge of the industry to the ARA board. He served as president and CEO of Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association (KARA) since 1984. Prior to that, Tunnell managed a family-owned grain, fertilizer and agricultural chemical dealership for nine years. He also attended Wichita State University and is married with three daughters and eight grandchildren. Tunnell currently serves on ARA's Executive Committee. Rod Wells, GROWMARK Rod Wells was named director of agronomy sales and operations for GROWMARK in November 2008. In this position, he provides overall leadership to GROWMARK's plant food and crop protection sales and facility operations. Wells has held numerous positions of increasing responsibility since joining the GROWMARK System in 1987. He began his career as a crop specialist at Moultrie Shelby FS, Inc., and earned the title of Certified Crop Specialist in 1991. Later, he became agronomy marketing manager for Lincoln Land FS, Inc. Wells was hired as an agronomy area sales manager by GROWMARK, Inc. in 2006 and eventually held other positions with the company including Region Agronomy Sales Manager and Manager of Facility Strategy and Operations. He has a bachelor's degree in Agriculture Industries from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and currently resides in Bloomington, Illinois. Roy Young, Land View, Inc. Roy Young is President of Land View, Inc., a company that was formed in 1985 to support his family's growing farm in south central Idaho. Through support from great employees and taking advantage of key opportunities, Land View has grown into one of the largest independent ag chem companies in the Pacific Northwest. Land View currently has 10 retail locations that serve portions of a three state area with a wide variety of crops. A trucking company and public fertilizer warehousing locations also help support the company. In addition, livestock nutrition, along with industrial products, round out the company's product offerings. Roy Young and his wife Lupe, who is also active in the business, reside in Rupert, Idaho. They have six children and five grandchildren. Tweet |
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