The Amalgamated Sugar Company LLC, based in Boise, Idaho, named John McCreedy, an 11-year veteran of the company, as new president and CEO on May 7.
McCreedy takes the helm following Vic Jaro’s retirement after nine years as CEO of the grower-owned company.
“John has been an integral member of Amalgamated Sugar since he joined our team,” said Duane Grant, chairman of the Amalgamated Sugar board. “John has proven himself to be a true leader and has a clear vision for the company’s future as we continue to work hard for our growers, employees and customers. With John at the helm we feel confident Amalgamated will continue to have a strong voice and influence in the sugar industry.”
McCreedy joined Amalgamated Sugar in 2004 as general counsel and has risen in the ranks to his most recent position as executive vice president. A University of Idaho College of Law graduate, McCreedy most recently led the company’s reorganization, labor relations and business development efforts, establishing a track record for building strong leadership teams and proving he has the skills necessary to implement Amalgamated Sugar’s vision for the future. In addition to his responsibilities at Amalgamated Sugar, McCreedy serves as the chairman of the Idaho Board of Environmental Quality.
“I feel honored to be selected as the new CEO of Amalgamated Sugar,” said McCreedy. “This company and its dedicated employees have a strong legacy of taking care of our growers and employees and providing our customers with high quality pure, natural sugar. We are committed to ensuring our growers are profitable while also providing our employees with a safe workplace, excellent wages and benefits. I look forward to building upon those commitments.”
Amalgamated Sugar, a grower-owned cooperative, employees more than 1,400 people at its facilities and processes sugarbeets grown in Idaho, Oregon and Washington by its 787 members. Amalgamated Sugar produces 10 percent of the nation’s sugar at its facilities in Nampa, Twin Falls and Paul, and is the second largest sugarbeet company in the country. The company also has a robust feed products business providing pulp and molasses to the regional cattle and dairy industries and sells processing technology globally through a subsidiary located in Twin Falls.
As a part of the current transition, the company continues to round out its leadership team. The team is a combination of individuals with deep experience within Amalgamated Sugar and those who bring broad experiences to the company from their previous work.
Joe Huff, a Boise native, started his career at Amalgamated Sugar 35 years ago as an electrical engineer. Today, Huff is improving factory operations as the vice president and chief operating officer. Bill Smith, a 40-year veteran in the industry, leads the company’s marketing efforts as president of National Sugar Marketing LLC. John Landis joined Amalgamated Sugar in late 2013 as the CFO and vice president of finance. Landis draws upon his experience in the manufacturing, food production and retail grocery branded consumer products industries to improve the company’s financial systems and overall efficiency. The new vice president of agriculture, Pat Laubacher, learned the sugarbeet industry from an early age on his family’s farm. Laubacher joined the company after a successful international career in the onion and garlic industry.
The leadership team is focused on building upon Jaro’s many successes. During his time as CEO, Jaro was instrumental in the United States’ sugar trade negotiations with Mexico and won the respect of many in the sugar industry across the nation. Under Jaro’s leadership, Amalgamated was able to significantly increase the amount of sugar the company’s growers produce. He fought tirelessly for growers to ensure they could more easily transport beets across Idaho and connect to markets outside the state and spent a significant amount of time helping educate growers, consumers and lawmakers on agriculture practices.
“Vic’s dedication to Amalgamated Sugar was evident in everything he did,” said Grant. “Our new leadership team possesses that same dedication and they all have a deep commitment to our growers, our customers, our employees and this company,” said Grant. “With Vic’s prior leadership, and the talent we have now added to the team, I know the best is yet to come for Amalgamated Sugar.”