Former Orica Ltd. CEO Malcolm Broomhead has joined BHP Billiton’s board of directors as a non-executive member. He has also been CEO of North Ltd. and is currently the chairman of Asciano Ltd., an Australian infrastructure company. He has had various roles with Energy Resources Australia, Peko Wallsend, and MIM Holdings Ltd.
Also joining the board as a non-executive member is Carolyn Hewson, a former investment banker with Schroders Australia Ltd. She is also on the boards of Westpac Banking Corp., BT Investment Management Ltd., and Stockland Corp. Ltd.
Exiting the board are Paul Anderson, who is leaving to join the board of BP plc, and Dr. Gail de Planque, citing health reasons.
SynGest Inc., which plans to build an anhydrous ammonia plant in Iowa, reports that Dr. Robert Brown, Gary and Donna Hoover Chair in Mechanical Engineering at Iowa State University, will serve on SynGest’s technical advisory committee. “Dr. Brown is a world renowned pioneer in the conversion of biorenewable resources into bioenergy and biobased products. His expertise includes combustion, gasification, fast pyrolysis, and hydrogen energy,” said Jack Oswald, CEO of SynGest. “His wealth of knowledge and experience in these fields is unmatched in academia and industry.”
SynGest’s technical advisory committee will work directly with the chairman of SynGest and its board of directors, providing an independent non-executive review of the company’s technical affairs.
Dr. Brown earned his Ph.D. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Michigan State University. Prior to that, he earned his B.A. in Mathematics and B.S. in Physics, both at the University of Missouri, Columbia.
Converted Organics Inc. (CO) has appointed Gerard Gould as director of sales. The company says he brings over 15 years of organic retail sales experience. He spent ten years as sales manager for Arett Sales Corp., a distributor of lawn, garden, and outdoor living supplies. While in this position, Gould more than doubled U.S. product sales, achieving the largest sales growth in the history of the company. Prior to his tenure as sales manager, Gould was also a sales representative for Arett. Gould’s background includes tenures as regional manager of Home & Garden Showplace for global hardware cooperative True Value Corp., territorial manager for bulb and perennial wholesaler K. Van Bourgondien Corp., and New England area manager for Etera Corp., a provider of branded perennials and e-commerce opportunities to independent garden centers.
“Gerry’s background will compliment the experience and efforts of the existing sales force, as well as build upon the great work that continues to be done by David Flannery, Converted Organics’ vice president of marketing,” said CO President Edward Gildea.
The company has also announced the continued expansion of its U.S. sales force with the appointments of Gary Ackerson and Jason Dowgiewicz as sales representatives for fertilizer products into the professional turf market, including the professional lawn care and golf course markets. Both will report to Flannery.
Ackerson brings over ten years of turf, greenhouse, and nursery market sales experience. He spent five years as a regional sales manager for Growth Products Ltd.
Dowgiewicz’s background includes over five years of agronomic research related to turf grass stress tolerance and disease management. Most recently, he served as golf course superintendent first assistant at MDM Golf Enterprises, where he developed agronomic, fertility, and chemical programs for public, private, and municipal golf courses. He holds an M.S. degree in Plant and Soil Science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
In total, CO said it has added five new sales positions in the past three months.
In addition, CO has retained Crossbow Group, Westport, Conn., to develop high impact advertising and marketing communications programs for several of the firm’s target markets. Crossbow Group will be developing measurable, scalable programs for the retail lawn and garden, agriculture, professional lawn care, and golf course markets. Programs will roll out in the first quarter of 2010.
Correction: Prairie Creek Terminal Services reports that its correct phone number is 815-423-6604 (GM Feb. 1, p. 10-11).