On the Move

Jennifer Zurko

BALL HORTICULTURAL COMPANY

Steve Reed has been hired at Ball Horticultural Company as the Mum Business Manager. He will be responsible for new product development, forecasting, trials management and marketing. Steve was most recently on the BFG sales team, but also spent 15 years at C. Raker & Son’s (now Raker-Roberta’s Young Plants). At both Raker and several other positions over the course of his career, Steve has been intricately involved in every aspect of mum production, trials, sales and marketing.

DRAMM

The Dramm Corporation announced that Noah Dramm Becker is joining the team as a Marketing & Sales Associate. In this role, Noah will work primarily with the Commercial Products and Water Management teams in content creation, website management, social media marketing and advertising. Noah will also have sales responsibility for several Mid-Atlantic States, working with the Northeastern Technical Representative Brett Kroszner. Additionally, he’ll work with the consumer and fertilizer segments to aid in their marketing efforts.

Noah joins the company after working in biotechnology for the past two years, doing research and development of new drug treatments. As a fourth-generation family member, Noah grew up around the business, working for the Dramm Corporation during summers and time away from school.

FINE AMERICAS, INC.

Fine Americas announced that Mark Mitchell is a new sales manager, serving customers across the southwestern United States. Prior to joining Fine Americas, Mark served as southwest regional sales manager for Aqua-Yield, where he helped developed new markets in the U.S., Mexico and Central America. He has extensive experience in specialty crops, turf, ornamentals and golf course, as well as row and commodity crops. Previous experiences include sales positions with Gulf Coast Organic, Nachurs Alpine Solutions and as owner/operator of Clovis Floral & Greenhouses. Mark’s territory includes California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

PANAMERICAN SEED

Julian Ginori is PanAmerican Seed’s new plant breeder, working out of the company’s Guadalupe, California, facility. Julian pursued a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Genetics at the University of Florida in 2019, where his dissertation focused on the critical topic of heat stress tolerance in begonia. He was also able to hone his skills in plant propagation, greenhouse management and advanced laboratory techniques, and was awarded a Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Grant.

PROVEN WINNERS

Proven Winners has a new staffer dedicated exclusively to growers and brokers: the Director of Grower Accounts. Tim Anderson, formerly the director of national sales accounts and business development at Walters Gardens, the Proven Winners perennials licensee, will be supporting the Proven Winners licensee network, building strong relationships, shaping programs and building brand loyalty with both growers and brokers.

SYNGENTA PROFESSIONAL SOLUTIONS

Syngenta Professional Solutions is expanding its customer support across 19 states with the appointment of two new territory managers in the Midwest and Southwest regions. They’ll be focused on helping ornamental growers solve their insect and disease problems.

Caleb Wilson, the new Midwest rep, received a B.S. in Agricultural Business from Southern Arkansas University. Caleb brings diverse industry knowledge from his time as an agronomist with Shoffner Farm Research and Pioneer. In those roles, Caleb worked on seed production, developed agronomic trainings and more.

Julian Gonzales, who’ll be covering the Southwest region, received his B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and M.S. in Plant and Soil Science from Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Before joining Syngenta, Julian was the plant health manager at J. Berry Nursery, where he worked extensively with fertilizers, herbicides, sanitizing agents, plant growth regulators and more to enhance plant health. GT