Environmental Science, a business unit of the Crop Science division of Bayer, named Jose Milan its Turf & Ornamentals global market manager. In this role, Milan will have a global focus on delivering Bayer brand experience for customers in the golf course management, lawn & landscape and production ornamentals markets.
“With his deep market knowledge and proven passion for the green industry, Jose is uniquely positioned to bring surgical focus to our global marketing strategy and enhance customer experience globally so that regardless of geography, our customers have the same world-class experience with Bayer,” said Thierry Chenet, head of global marketing for Bayer Environmental Science. “Jose will play a critical role in aligning our sales and marketing teams to deliver the best results for our customers while helping to create a better life in the communities we serve.”
Milan most recently served as head of business operations for the U.S. Turf & Ornamentals business. A founding member of the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA), Milan is also involved with associations such as Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment (RISE). RISE is the national trade association representing manufacturers, formulators, distributors and other industry leaders involved with pesticides. Prior to Bayer, Milan held leadership roles with Syngenta and Novartis. He holds a Bachelor’s in Dairy Science and a Master’s in Agricultural Economics from Louisiana State University.
Andrew McArdle, director of product marketing at Douglas Dynamics, has earned the Advanced Snow Manager (ASM) designation from the Snow & Ice Management Association (SIMA).
The ASM training program provides safety and operational training for snow operations professionals, designed around the following values: serious training, stronger people and safer operations.
“We’re thrilled that Andy has achieved this designation,” said Mark Adamson, executive vice president of commercial snow and ice for Douglas Dynamics. “This accomplishment illustrates our values of safety and quality throughout all of our brands. Andy represents our company and our values very well, so when he grows in this industry, our whole team does.”
This self-paced, interactive training program includes these four certificate courses: Core Principles, Plowing Operations, Sidewalk Operations and Ice Management. Individuals complete the courses and then take a quiz to assess knowledge. Those who earn all four certificates receive the ASM designation, an official training credential from SIMA.
Excel Industries President and CEO Paul Mullet will retire, and Joseph C. Wright will be joining Excel Industries as CEO on Feb. 12.
Mullet’s decision to retire comes after 45 years with Excel Industries, serving as president and CEO since 1991. He will remain actively engaged through March, assisting with Wright’s transition. Mullet also will continue to serve on the company’s board of directors, a role he has held since 1983.
Mullet’s father, Roy Mullet, was a founding member of Excel Industries. Paul Mullet started as a welder at Excel in 1972 and progressed through a diverse range of roles with a variety of responsibilities within the company, including production supervisor, service manager and VP of sales and marketing until his promotion to president.
“Professionally and personally, now is the time for me to transition the leadership of Excel Industries,” said Mullet. “We’ve grown significantly over the last decade, and we’re starting 2018 in a strong position. The entire leadership team is excited to welcome Joe as our new CEO and continue our growth trajectory.”
Wright comes to Excel Industries from Concept Metal Group, a provider of metal processing, metal finishing, powder coating, assemblies and supply chain management, where he served as president. Prior to that, he spent 21 years with Briggs & Stratton Corp.
Ruppert Landscape promoted Rob Groves to branch manager at the company’s northern Richmond landscape management branch.
Groves has more than 15 years of green industry experience and holds a degree in ornamental horticulture from Pennsylvania College of Technology. He has been with the company for more than 10 years, having started his career with Ruppert as an enhancement field manager in the company’s Gainesville, Va., landscape management branch. Within a year, he was promoted to enhancement manager, and after serving in that role for six years, he took a position as area manager. As a result of Groves’ success in these positions, he was accepted into Ruppert’s Associate Branch Manager leadership development program in 2016.
As branch manager, he will be responsible for the overall welfare of the northern Richmond branch, including the safety and development of his team, strategic planning and budgeting, training and day-to-day operations.
In other Ruppert news, the company promoted Paul Pestun to director of business development in the company’s landscape construction division.
Pestun holds a degree in landscape management from Montgomery College and is a platinum-level graduate of ABC’s Leadership Development Program. He joined the company as an assistant field manager in 2012 with more than 10 years of landscape construction experience. After a few months, he was promoted to the newly created position of assistant production manager and helped pilot that new level of management in the division. In 2014, he was promoted to the position of business developer in the company’s national landscape construction branch, during which time he developed sales opportunities in markets where Ruppert did not have a permanent physical presence. His efforts helped the national construction branch set a new division record of $34.1 million dollars in sales for 2017, with projects being sold in Dallas; Austin, Texas; Oklahoma City; and Lexington, Ky.
In his new role, he will be responsible for working with the sales team at each landscape construction branch to help unify sales effort across the division. In addition, he will be responsible for tracking market trends and creating new sales opportunities on a national level, targeting markets with high construction volume and generating high-level relationships with owners, developers, general contractors and landscape architects.
Photo: Bayer
