Wilbur-Ellis Co. LLC, Denver, Colo., announced on Oct. 8 that Mark Ripato will take over as the company’s Agribusiness division president, effective Nov. 1. For the past three years, Ripato has served as the CEO and president of Tenkoz, a leading agricultural buying group based in Alpharetta, Ga. Wilbur-Ellis is the largest retail member of Tenkoz. Ripato will be based out of Wilbur-Ellis’ Agribusiness headquarters in Denver.
“Mark is a long-time agricultural executive with deep and direct exposure into many relevant areas within the ag industry,” said John Buckley, Wilbur-Ellis CEO and president. “In his roles at Tenkoz, Mark has demonstrated his ability to rapidly take on increasing levels of responsibility in a large, complex and well-respected organization. We will benefit from his deep knowledge of the agriculture supply chain and Mark’s unique insights into the industry transformation.”
Ripato began his career as a flock supervisor at Perdue Farms in Salisbury, Md. He then moved to ICI Agricultural Products, which later became Syngenta, where he managed various chemistry portfolios and worked to integrate them with the introduction of new seed and trait platforms. He has a B.S. degree in agricultural economics from the University of Kentucky in Lexington, an MBA from Salisbury State University in Salisbury, and an International Master of Management degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
Dan Vradenburg, Wilbur-Ellis’ current Agribusiness president, will transition to the role of board chair for Wilbur-Ellis’ venture capital arm, Cavallo Ventures.