Terra Industries Inc.’s Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, W. Mark Rosenbury, retired Aug. 4 to become president of Renewable Energy Plus Inc., a start-up company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. Rosenbury, 59, joined Terra as vice president and corporate controller in 1987. As its name implies, Renewable Energy is expected to be involved in various alternative energy businesses, including ethanol and bio-diesel. It will have an eye toward buying farmer-owned companies and putting them together as one public entity.
Terra has promoted Douglas Stone, 40, to vice president, corporate development and strategic planning. He will be responsible for identifying, evaluating, and developing new projects and strategic opportunities. Stone joined Terra in 1989 and was most recently North American director, industrial sales.
Agriliance LLC recently cut 22 positions company-wide. Agriliance spokesperson Annette Degnan said the cuts were less than one percent of the company workforce. “We are adjusting to business conditions being felt by everyone, and the cuts are across all areas of the company.” Degnan said the main people are still in place in the crop nutrients section of the business, though there may have been some adjustments with product managers within the supply group. Degnan listed the current line-up as follows:
- Under phosphates and potash, Mike Meether, product manager, and Burnie Baker, supply manager.
- Under dry nitrogen, Mark Miller, product manager, and Larry Klegin, supply manager.
- Under liquid nitrogen, Jeff Greseth, product manager, and Tim Chrislip, supply manager.
All of these report to Steve Markey, director, crop nutrient product management. Markey reports to Doug Wonnacatt, vice president, crop nutrients.
Industry veteran Lee A. Bowden, sales manager for Frontier Fertilizer & Chemical Co. LLC, has announced his retirement, effective Sept. 1. His service to the industry includes 25 years with W. R. Grace & Co., with other experience with Agrico/AMC and Farmland Industries Inc. He will remain in Lubbock, Texas, and can be reached at lbowden35@sbcglobal.net or by cell at 806-781-7053.
Wilbur-Ellis Co. announced that Jim Blair has been promoted to national nutrition marketing manager for the company. In his new role, Blair will be working on value added fertilizer and nutrition opportunities in the company’s retail and wholesale divisions. Blair had been working for the past four years as a regional manager at Northern Star Minerals, which Wilbur Ellis purchased in 2001. Ward Forquer will assume the regional manager position vacated by Blair at Northern Star, responsible for all operations in the Great Lakes region. Before joining Wilbur-Ellis in 2005, Forquer started with Kalium in 1984, and through several mergers made the transition to IMC and later Mosaic Co. Forquer will work from Northern Star’s Okemos, Mich., office.