World Grain - September 2014 - 12

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Palmquist appointed managing director,
CEO of GrainCorp
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - GrainCorp announced on Aug. 12 the appointment of Mark Palmquist as the company's managing director and
chief executive officer (CEO). Palmquist had been executive vice-president and chief operating officer, Ag Business at CHS, overseeing all
of CHS's international grain-related business units and has held several
leadership roles in the food and agricultural industries over a 35-year
career spanning North America, South America, Europe and Asia.
GrainCorp was the subject of an acquisition by Archer Daniels
Midland Co. in 2013 that was ultimately rejected by the Australian
government for being "contrary to the national interest." Shortly following the announcement of the rejection, GrainCorp's then-CEO
Alison Watkins advised the board of her intention to resign as to take
a position as group managing director of Coca-Cola Amatil Limited.
Following Watkins departure, Don Taylor, GrainCorp's non-executive chairman, assumed the role of executive chairman and acting
CEO in mid-January 2014.
Following his departure from CHS on Aug. 31, Palmquist is
scheduled to start at GrainCorp on Oct. 1 and will be relocating to
Australia from Minnesota, U.S.
Taylor said GrainCorp's board was pleased to announce the
appointment of Palmquist following an extensive international
search. "GrainCorp's board is delighted to have secured a candidate
of such high caliber and international standing," Taylor said. "We
are confident that Mark's skills and extensive experience will be invaluable to the ongoing growth of GrainCorp as a global agribusiness and food ingredients company. The company remains focused

on building shareholder returns through the
program of strategic initiatives we have been
implementing since 2012. Mark brings a valuable combination of deep industry knowledge
and global management experience to GrainCorp. We are all excited about working with
him as he leads GrainCorp into its next phase
of growth, enhances our customer offering and
grows value for our investors."
Palmquist
In his current position, Palmquist is responsible
for all global ag-related business units including crop nutrients, grain
marketing, terminal operations, exports, logistics and transportation,
along with soybean processing operations and protein food operations.
He joined CHS in 1979 and started out as a grain buyer before moving
into grain merchandising. In 1993, he was named senior vice-president
of that area.
Since 2001, he has held a variety of leadership roles for a broad
range of CHS agricultural inputs and marketing areas, retail businesses and grain-based food and food ingredients operations.
Palmquist was named executive vice-president and chief operating
officer in 2005 and served in his most recent role at CHS since January 2011. He serves on the board of directors of Ardent Mills and is
a long standing member of the Minneapolis Grain Exchange and the
Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
"I have worked around the world, and GrainCorp is by any measure an outstanding company," Palmquist said.

Following Palmquist exit, CHS shifts Ag Business leadership
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, U.S. - CHS Inc. announced on Aug. 11
that current CHS strategic leadership team member Shirley Cunningham will assume a new role as executive vice-president and
chief operating officer, Ag Business and Enterprise Strategy, replacing Mark Palmquist, executive vice-president and chief operating officer, Ag Business.
Palmquist left the organization Aug. 31 to
assume the top leadership role as managing director and chief executive officer of GrainCorp,
Sydney, Australia, on Oct. 1.
"We congratulate Mark on this new opportunity and thank him for his significant contributions to CHS and its predecessor organizations,"
said CHS President and Chief Executive Officer
Cunningham
Carl Casale.
Cunningham, who joined CHS in 2013 as executive vice-president,
Enterprise Strategy, will continue to lead the company's Enterprise
Strategy functions as well as the newly aligned Ag Business platform
which includes International, North America and Agronomy.
"Shirley brings significant global strategic and enterprise experience to her expanded role," said Casale. "Aligning our Ag Business
and Enterprise Strategy platforms under Shirley's leadership will po12

sition us well for continued growth on behalf of our owners."
Newly named leaders for CHS Ag Business platform include:
* Stefano Rettore, senior vice-president, International, responsible
for CHS South America, CHS Asia-Pacific and CHS Europe.
* Gary Anderson, senior vice-president, North America Grain
Marketing and Processing and Food Ingredients, responsible for
North America Grain Marketing, Terminals and Transportation,
Business Development, Processing and Food Ingredients, and Ethanol manufacturing.
* Rick Dusek, vice-president, Agronomy, leading Crop Nutrients
Supply and Trading, North America Crop Nutrients and Agronomy,
which will include additional product and technology offerings.

Rettore

Anderson

Dusek

September 2014 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com

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World Grain - September 2014

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