Grower members of the Western Sugar Cooperative received good news Feb. 16 when company President and Chief Executive Officer Rodney Perry and Chief Financial Officer Jason Bridges visited the annual meeting of the Nebraska Non-Stock Sugar Beet Growers.
Perry said sugar prices are increasing, new technology is on its way. Reports from the cooperative’s Denver staff were welcome as a rough 2014 campaign draws to a close.
According to Perry, who joined Western in April 2014, the business is charting a new course that includes increased focus on building the customer base and utilizing advanced technology.
“Overall, we’re going to see more customer focus,” Perry said. “We’ve just returned from Orlando, Fla., and St. Louis, where we met with food producers.” An example of a potential market is producers interested in blending sugar with chocolate for items such as hot chocolate and energy drinks.
Perry said Western has invested in improving basic facilities infrastructure over the past five years, and now will move into more advanced technology to reduce processing costs, to make Western more competitive.
He also announced additional investments in beet pile ventilation, a process that prevented additional pile loss during the 2014-15 processing campaign. The ventilated piles had less damage than those without. The non-ventilated piles developed “hot spots” because of extreme fluctuations in temperatures, and these were removed with backhoes, which stabilized those piles. Beet processing is completed in the Nebraska region. Processing at the Fort Morgan, Colo., plant is expected to run into the first week of March.
Another major investment will be made in the management sector. According to Perry, more attention will be given to personnel relations.
“We’re going to see more collaboration and teamwork with employees and with growers,” Perry said. “We’re going to be focusing on more openness and trust.”
Perry also said safety is going to be a huge focus.
“We’re going to be working with behaviors, and we’re already seeing results from that,” he said. “We’re going to reduce the potential for injuries and eliminate those risks.
“Our goal is a zero incident culture,” Perry said. “We want everyone to go home in the same condition they came in.”
Moving the cooperative forward will be a new team of officers who bring hands-on experience in agribusiness and in food industries. In addition to Perry are CFO Jason Bridges, Vice President of Operations Mike Skeans, Vice President of Human Resources Dave Devore and Safety Manager John Salway.
Source: www.starherald.com