OWENSBORO, Ky. – The ResponsibleAg board of directors held the initiative’s 2021 annual meeting Dec. 2, following the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) convention in San Antonio, Texas. Election of officers was a primary order of business, with new leadership chosen to take the helm beginning Jan. 1, 2022.

The 2022 officers are:

– Chairman, Gary Vogen, vice president, corporate and regulatory affairs, YARA North America, Tampa, Fla.

– Vice Chairman, Kyle Springs, senior director of safety and health ‒ retail, Nutrien Ag Solutions, Midlothian, Va.

– Secretary, Kevin Frye, safety services manager, GROWMARK, Bloomington, Ill.

– Treasurer, Kent McPherson, director of business and sales development, GreenPoint Ag, Decatur, Ala.

Other board members include Clark Capwell, general manager of environmental, health, safety and sustainability, The McGregor Company, Colfax, Wash.; Matthew Entwistle, sales agronomist with CaroVail, Oriskany Falls, N.Y.; Matt Green, vice president of marketing, CRV Partners, Sugar Land, Texas; Jeff Mize, CEO, Ag Plus, Inc., South Whitley, Ind.; and Andy Spahr, director of sales and logistics – primary nutrients, The Andersons, Maumee, Ohio.

During the closing session of the ARA convention, Daren Coppock, president and CEO of ARA, saluted two industry leaders whose final terms on the board are ending.

Retiring board chairman, Tim McArdle, retired COO of Brandt Consolidated, Inc. in Springfield, Ill., and board vice chairman, David Ito, vice president of regulatory affairs for Grow West in Woodland, Calif., have each served six years on the board and were heralded for their foresight and long-term commitment to employee safety and the ResponsibleAg certification program.

“We are happy to recognize Tim McArdle and Dave Ito. They were among the industry leaders whose foresight and commitment to employee safety and the well-being of our industry led to creation of the ResponsibleAg audit and certification program,” Coppock said. “Today, the program is recognized by key regulators and elected officials as a bellwether that members of the ag retail and fertilizer industry take safety and security seriously.

“The ResponsibleAg program is making a real difference for our industry, particularly on Capitol Hill, and it wouldn’t have achieved its success without the efforts and guidance of these two dedicated leaders,” Coppock said.

Joining Coppock in honoring McArdle and Ito were Amber Duke, president and CEO of Asmark Institute, and Corey Rosenbusch, president and CEO of The Fertilizer Institute.

ResponsibleAg is an industry initiative launched in 2014 to help retail facilities comply with federal environmental, health, safety and security rules for safe handling and storage of fertilizer and agrichemical products. Primary objectives of the initiative are to ensure the safety of employees and local communities served by agricultural retailers, distributors and fertilizer manufacturers.