World Grain - October 2019 - 28

FEATURE: MAASS SEEKS BOTH CHANGE AND GROWTH

tions," Maass said. "The traditional suppliers focused
on freeze-dried vegetables. The focus of our investment here is on the protein side. That's what was missing in the market. That's what our customers are asking
for, driven by the consumer. The more we studied it,
the more we asked, 'Why not us?' We decided to take a
plunge and make it happen.
"It's an example of investing in an adjacent category.
,W¿WVLQIRURXUWHDPWKDWKDVEHHQVXSSO\LQJSHWIRRG
ingredients for many years. And it expands on some
capabilities we haven't had in the past on the manufacturing side."
Also in recent months, the company has built out
its executive leadership team by recruiting executives
in development, marketing, compliance, plant safety,
business management and risk management.
Many of the changes were precipitated by the retirement of longtime Scoular executives. In addition to attracting new talent, the changes have allowed Scoular
to become more externally connected, Maass said.
³%ULQJLQJ GL൵HUHQW H[SHULHQFHV DQG IUHVK SHUVSHFtives to the company will help us," he said.
He also voiced a commitment to invest in professional development and other programs that will allow
Scoular to develop talent from within.
'WE HAVE TO BE NIMBLE, AGILE'
Given the company's history of success, Maass said
there can be a natural tendency to follow strategies
from the past, particularly within parts of the business
doing well.
"For me, the objective is to embrace that history of
success and acknowledge it and at the same time be suSHUDJJUHVVLYHLQRXUH൵RUWWREHVXUHSHRSOHXQGHUVWDQG
that the world is changing so fast," Maass said. "We
have to be nimble, agile, aggressive in certain spots so
that we're able to reach our full potential. We're taking
the right steps to be successful. And there is external
outreach - I push the team harder to make sure we are
externally connected."
Standing out among recent recruits was the addition
of Bill J. Hahn as senior vice-president of business development. In this role, Hahn is succeeding John M.
Heck, a longtime Scoular executive, who is retiring
this year.
Hahn most recently was senior vice-president of
mergers and acquisitions at Conagra Brands, Inc., and
he was described by Maass as "super instrumental"
in negotiations leading to the creation of Ardent Mills
LLC. A merger of the milling businesses of Conagra,
Cargill and CHS, Inc., Ardent was established in 2014
while Maass was still an executive at Conagra.
"We've done other deals together, too, and he's just a
super talented person," Maass said. "We've got a great
28

For new career chapter, Maass
returns to his roots
Paul T. Maass has been a prominent figure in the grainbased foods industry for 30 years, and only a short
physical distance separates ConAgra Foods, Inc. (now
Conagra Brands), where Maass spent most of his career,
and The Scoular Co. in downtown Omaha, Nebraska,
U.S. But the career path Maass has traversed during his
professional life has encompassed a wide range of responsibilities, moving him steadily in the direction of the
processed food industry. From his start as a ConAgra
millfeed merchandiser in 1988 after graduating from
Iowa State University, Maass rose to lead the company's feed ingredient unit, flour milling division, its commercial products business and was on the short list to
succeed Gary Rodkin as chief executive officer. He left
in 2015 when the CEO position did not materialize and
took time to consider his next steps. Discussions with
Scoular began in the spring of 2016.
"Running Scoular was not where my head was to begin with when I left ConAgra saying I was going to run
a company," Maass said. "I was not sure what company
that would be. It was clear that I wasn't going to run
ConAgra so I said, 'I'm going to step off and figure it
out.' They went external, and I was an internal candidate. There was zero negative emotion; ConAgra was so
awesome to me through my whole career. It was great.
I probably assumed I would end up more in the food
space instead of back to agriculture, but as my process
unfolded, it was a case of self-discovery - that I'm really passionate about agriculture. I realized how much I
missed a lot of the dynamics of this space. If you think
about the baking industry, the flour milling industry,
there's just a lot of really enjoyable people that I can
relate to very well, with my background being raised
on a farm. As discussions with Scoular got serious, the
more we talked, the more positive energy developed. I
knew Scoular from my trading past, the reputation, always great people and just a real solid, honest company
with a customer focus."
Maass specifically credited David Faith, the chairman
of Scoular and part of the family that acquired the business in 1967.
"He deeply believes in sharing the success of the
company with those who create it," he said, noting the
company is primarily employee owned.
"You have employee shareholders who are all
aligned around the idea, 'We want to create shareholder value,'" Maass said. "'We want to do the right
things. We want to grow the company the right way,
thoughtfully. It's about not doing anything that would
harm shareholder value or the company."

October 2019 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com

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World Grain - October 2019

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