Marrone Bio Innovations Expands Agricultural Team

By CropLife Staff|November 28, 2012

Marrone Bio Innovations Inc. (MBI) has expanded its agricultural business with the hiring of three important industry sales and marketing experts with more than 70 years of combined experience across the agricultural and life science industries.

Neal Job joins MBI as the director of U.S. sales for the agriculture division, bringing more than 20 years of sales management experience. Located in Bakersfield, CA, most recently Job was a key accounts manager with Suterra, where he was responsible for driving sales growth in the southern San Joaquin Valley and across the U.S. In this role he delivered significant revenue growth and ran pheromone trap and sampling programs covering several thousand acres. Before his work with Suterra, he was part of a startup biopesticide company and he also worked with Syngenta. In both positions he drove sales in the San Joaquin Valley and coastal markets of California, helped to implement marketing programs and managed field and business development projects. His relationships with key accounts across a large geography will be instrumental in MBI’s rapid growth plans. Job graduated from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, with a B.S. in agribusiness marketing.

Rich Fedigan comes to MBI as director of marketing and communications with more than 25 years of marketing experience specializing in the agriculture and turf industries. Fedigan most recently served as a communications consultant with the Conklin Co., a manufacturer and direct marketer of ag/turf fertilizers located in Kansas City, MO. In this role he initiated a strategic plan for public relations, created sales field training, wrote marketing materials and assisted with the entire branding process. Previously he served as an account supervisor at Walz Tetrick Advertising in Mission, KS, where he managed communication budgets and collaborated with clients to translate corporate goals and objectives into a comprehensive strategic plan and to develop performance metrics. Fedigan earned a master’s in business administration from the University of Buffalo, and also holds B.S. and M.S. in agricultural economics.

Dave Owens, a third-generation Floridian, will manage sales of the company’s crop protection products throughout the state of Florida. Owens joins MBI after 22 years with Bayer and Rhone Poulenc in Florida. Before that Owens worked for Chevron/Valent in Florida and as a key accounts manager in the northeastern U.S. Owens holds a B.S. in business administration from the University of Florida.

“MBI is thrilled to add such high-quality, experienced talent as Neal, Dave and Rich to our agricultural team,” said Hector Absi, senior vice president of commercial operations. “Their extensive knowledge of our market and ability to successfully drive sales and establish a brand across the agricultural markets is critical as we strive to meet growers’ increasingly complex pest and crop management requirements.”