The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) Board of Directors met today (11/12/09) and elected officers for the upcoming year, bringing even more grassroots representation and diversity to the nation’s largest ethanol advocacy association.
Lars Herseth was elected as President of the American Coalition for Ethanol by his peers on the Board. He operates Herseth Ranch, his family farm near Houghton, SD, where he raises corn and soybeans along with a small cow/calf operation. Herseth serves on the Board of Directors for Northern Growers LLC, the more than 900 member shareholders behind the POET Biorefining – Big Stone ethanol plant in Big Stone City, SD. In addition to Big Stone, he is also an investor in the locally owned ethanol plants Glacial Lakes Energy LLC of Watertown, SD, Redfield Energy LLC of Redfield, SD, as well as Granite Falls Energy LLC of Granite Falls, MN.
Herseth served in the South Dakota State Legislature for many years, in the House of Representatives from 1975-1986 and in the Senate from 1989-1996. He held various leadership positions, including House Minority Leader, Senate Minority Leader, and Senate Pro Tempore. Lars is the father of South Dakota Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin.
Herseth takes the reins from Brian Wilcox of Nebraska Public Power District who became Acting President earlier this year when the position was vacated by Bob Scott, whose company, POET Ethanol Products, resigned from the Board. POET and its representative Jeff Broin also resigned from the Board at that time to devote more time to the new trade association he formed last year.
Brian Wilcox was today re-elected to serve as Vice President, a leadership position he has held for several years. Owen Jones of 4 Seasons Co-op was re-elected as Treasurer. Jones is a farmer / rancher from Britton, South Dakota.
Duane Kristensen of Chief Ethanol in Hastings, NE was newly elected as the organization’s Secretary. Chief Ethanol began operations in 1985 and is Nebraska’s first dry mill ethanol plant. American Coalition for Ethanol founder and first president Merle Anderson of Climax, MN retains his seat on the Board and was granted the title Chairman Emeritus.
In addition to this slate of officers plus Chairman Emeritus Anderson, two additional directors were given a seat on the Board’s Executive Committee: Scott Parsley of East River Electric Cooperative and Ron Alverson of Dakota Ethanol, LLC. Alverson is a farmer from Chester, SD and Chairman of Lake Area Corn Processors, the cooperative behind South Dakota’s first farmer-owned ethanol plant.
“ACE is proud of its history as the grassroots voice for ethanol in America, and we’re confident that with the leadership represented in our slate of officers and on our executive committee, these grassroots voices will serve ethanol well in the future,” said Brian Jennings, Executive Vice President of ACE.
The entire ACE Board of Directors roster can be viewed here.
ACE is the nation’s largest ethanol advocacy association, with nearly 1,500 members nationwide, including farmers, ethanol producers, industry suppliers, rural electric co-ops, the agriculture community, and others supportive of ethanol.
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