Hocking International Laboratories, San Marcos, Calif., announced several new hires in its commercial organization on Jan. 21. Brady Boyd has joined the company as Ag Area Manager – South, and will cover the states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Oklahoma from his location in Little Rock, Ark. Boyd comes to Hocking after spending nearly five years in sales at AgroLiquid.
Rob Deacon has joined Hocking as Area Manager – Southwest, and will handle both ag and turf/ornamental customers in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, southern California, and Nevada. Deacon is based in Phoenix, Ariz., and comes to Hocking from NutriAg. He has also held previous positions with Compass Minerals and Wilbur-Ellis.
Mark McCostlin has joined Hocking as Ag Area Manager – Midwest, and will be covering Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois from his location in Kansas City, Mo. McCostlin’s previous work experience includes positions with The Andersons Inc., Haifa, Brandt, and others.
Scott Messer has been promoted to Director – Ag Sales East, and will have responsibility for the entire eastern region for Hocking’s Ag division. Messer will also be asked to help develop and drive strategy in the Ag sector for the company. He previously served as Ag Area Manager – East for Hocking. Boyd and McCostlin will report to Messer, along with future east region area manager personnel.
Hocking also announced the hiring of Kris Assel as Director of Marketing for the company. Assel will be based at the company’s San Marcos headquarters, where he will help build the Hocking’s customer offerings. Hocking said Assel has extensive marketing experience with companies in various industries.
“We are experiencing significant growth in our company in both the Ag and T&O sectors,” said Mark Auchampach, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Hocking. “We are committed to building a first-class commercial organization to enable sustained growth in all segments. Our customers look to us to provide solutions to help grow their brands. We will continue to build our team to ensure we can provide the service to our customers that they deserve and expect.”
Hocking is a chemical manufacturer of agricultural fertilizers, crop protection products, and other specialty products. The company’s activities include R&D innovation, manufacturing, and in-house custom packaging of fertilizers, nitrogen stabilizers, water and solvent based crop protection products, dry flowable herbicides, adjuvants and surfactants, and other agricultural and industrial products.