Jay D. Debertin has been elected president and CEO of CHS Inc., according to a May 22 announcement from the company. CHS said its board of directors selected Debertin to succeed Carl Casale, who led CHS during record performance levels and expansion.
Debertin previously served as executive vice president and chief financial officer for CHS’s energy operations and processing food ingredients business. He joined CHS in 1984 and has held a variety of leadership positions with the organization in energy, trading and risk management, transportation, and agricultural processing. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of North Dakota, and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin.
“As we take our cooperative into its next chapter, we are confident that Jay is the right leader,” said Dan Schurr, chairman of the CHS board. “Jay’s experience in achieving operational excellence and driving results fits squarely with our unwavering goal to deliver returns to our member-owners now and for the long term.”
During Casale’s seven years with the company, CHS said it returned $3 billion to its owners, invested $9 billion in new capital expenditures, and nearly doubled the size of its balance sheet from $8.7 billion in 2010 to $17.3 billion at the end of fiscal 2016.