Responsible for all aspects of the $45 Million, 600 employee social enterprise. MDI’s mission is to serve people with disabilities by offering inclusive employment opportunities and services in a growing manufacturing environment delivering corrugated plastic packaging solutions, production kitting and packing services. MDI is headquartered in Minneapolis, with additional locations in Roseville, Hibbing, Grand Rapids and Cohasset.

Responsibile for go-to-market strategy while enabling technical sales as well as product application development to increase the profitability and market share in Food Ingredients. Lead and manage a global team of product marketing managers, technical sales, and application specialists.

Led strategic marketing and growth initiatives within the Cargill’s Feed and Nutrition business. Owned the product line strategy for major channels and brands globally. Led with accountability for earnings generated by new products, services, and solutions by ensuring that the innovation pipeline was aligned with strategic priorities and customer needs. Additional oversite included owning and managing the brand positioning and brand standards for the global feed brands. Created $60 million in incremental earnings during tenure by leading the marketing team comprised of species category managers who deliver actionable insights, marketing communications, and launch products and services that address customer pain points and support businesses to position products, access new channels, and enter new markets.Created a disruptive multi-million-dollar growth strategy for converting food waste into sustainable animal feed ingredients. Accountable for the business P&L, sales, marketing, supply chain, engineering, research and development, and business development activities globally. Implemented new business structure to enable projects in 5 different countries as a proof-of-concept regarding ingredient sourcing, processing, and sales strategy. Negotiated a global sourcing contract with a top 10 CPG Company within 6 months of launch.

Strategy, P&L, sales and marketing responsibilities for bio-industrial products and services business, which produces over $300 million in revenue annually. Commercial leadership enabled the business to increase customer volume by 60% and service-based income by 70%, leading to a 63% growth in the top line performance. Oversaw strategic account planning, talent development, sales forecasting, and strategic pricing for B2B customers serviced by Cargill’s 3 largest grain processing facilities.

Provide support for Cargill’s Food Ingredients & Systems Platform business units in the areas of strategic planning, business development, and mergers & acquisitions. Projects included a $57MM acquisition of Fort Dodge, IA corn wet mill, successful commercial integration of the Louisiana Sugar Refining JV, demand forecast and customer segmentation model for glucose sweeteners, and the development of a bio-based products strategy.

Responsible for managing engineers, maintenance, and operations technicians to achieve business objectives for a $30MM Corn Oil facility (2004 - 09) and for the Nebraska Sweet Bran® cattle feed facility (2001-04), which shipped over 1500 tons of feed daily. Leadership lead to zero lost time injuries, OSHA or EPA findings, a 12% increase in corn oil production, with no additional assets, and 45% decrease in maintenance cost, while increasing the plant’s OEE by 15%. Supervised operators in the Sweetener Refinery (1997-01). Developed and implemented manufacturing changes due to customer insights, and worked with corporate Research & Development to implement new technology.