Karen Reardon, vice president of public affairs for RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment), received the Chairman’s Award, one of CropLife America’s highest honors, for her successful effort to defend against the ban of pesticide use on private property in Montgomery County, Md. The award was given to Reardon on Sept. 25 during the CropLife America (CLA) annual meeting held in Dana Point, Calif. CLA, a sister association to RISE, is the national trade association for manufacturers, formulators and distributors of pesticides used in agriculture, food and fiber.
“Karen has shown exceptional dedication to her position and leadership within the entire pesticide industry, ag and non-ag alike. She led our entire industry’s successful effort to defend against the ban of pesticide use on private property in Montgomery County, Md. Karen’s leadership of this multi-year effort resulted in one of the strongest legal rulings on behalf of this industry’s most important issue—defense of preemption,” CLA President & CEO Jay Vroom said while presenting the award. “This effort has and continues to be of exceptional service to member companies, the industry and the association.”
Reardon began working with RISE in 2006 and prior to that was with CLA for 10 years.
The Toro Co. named Edric Funk the director of its Center for Advanced Turf Technology (CATT). He succeeds Dana Lonn, who retired in June of 2017 after 48 years with the company.
In his new role, Funk will lead a team of engineers, agronomists and product development professionals to identify emerging industry trends and develop the next generation of solutions that address the needs of customers, while bridging future technologies that drive sustainability, productivity and efficiency. The CATT team works alongside customers, academic institutions and leading researchers to make progress in a number of areas, including autonomous operations, labor productivity and environmental concerns, such as emissions and alternative fuels, as well as precision turf management, including irrigation efficiency and soil moisture sensing.
Before joining Toro in 1996, Funk worked as a research scientist for the University of Minnesota. Since he joined Toro, he has held a number of positions at the company, beginning as a design engineer. In 2003, Funk transitioned to product marketing and managed various product lines across multiple divisions. Most recently, Funk served as director of worldwide product marketing in Toro’s Commercial Business. Funk holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering from the University of Minnesota, as well as an MBA with a focus on marketing and strategic management from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.
“We are excited to have Edric’s leadership in furthering the work of our CATT team,” said Richard M. Olson, president and CEO of The Toro Co. “He will be able to apply his diverse background in strategy development, product management and engineering technologies to define CATT’s future focus. His leadership style, strength in building relationships and constant desire for learning will serve Toro well as we help fulfill our mission to be innovation leaders.”
Illinois-based specialty fertilizer manufacturer, EnP, added Jim Miller as business development manager.
Miller brings decades of industry experience in product development, promotion, sales, and distribution. He was previously a sales manager for Aqua Aid, Inc. and worked in product development on Verde-Cal enhanced calcium products. In his new role at EnP, Miller will be responsible for growing the distribution of the Foliar-Pak product line by expanding the application of Armament technology within the marketplace.
Ruppert Landscape promoted Jay Long to vice president of human resources and added Cari Ciuba as the company’s director of talent acquisition.
“Our recent five-year strategic planning process highlighted the need to strengthen our HR department to support the organization and also ramp up our efforts around hiring, retention and reduction of turnover,” said company president, Phil Key.
Long has more than 28 years of experience in the contracting industry and has been with the Ruppert organization for more than 16 years as director of organizational and people development. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from George Washington University and an MBA from the University of Maryland. As vice president of human resources, he will continue to provide day-to-day leadership over the full range of the organization’s HR functions, including employee development, recruiting and safety.
Ciuba joined the company as director of talent acquisition to support the organization’s recruiting efforts. She brings more than 20 years of experience in talent acquisition and management, having most recently held a position as director of talent acquisition for Bell Partners, a national apartment investment and management firm, at their corporate office in North Carolina. She holds a bachelor’s degree in human resource management from the University of Maryland College Park. A native of Washington, D.C., she recently relocated to Maryland from Greensboro, N.C.
Arborjet added Bill Keogh as production supervisor. In this role, he will be responsible for driving the continuous improvement of the company’s operations and shipping department, advising on best practices and helping to execute lean initiatives.
Prior to his role at Arborjet, Keogh worked as director of fulfillment at Shawmut Communications Group, where he managed online e-commerce storefronts for customers and oversaw warehouse shipping and receiving operations.
“As we continue to grow, we are pleased to welcome Bill to our production team to help streamline our operations to meet the accelerating demand for our products,” said Russ Davis, president and chief operating officer of Arborjet.
