RiceCo USA

James Hines
Chief Executive Officer
Prior to founding RiceCo®, James worked in several capacities for Westrade and affiliated companies. He has over 25 years of experience in the industry and a background in accounting and business administration. During his 10 year tenure at RiceCo®, he has profitably grown the business, despite a challenging environment and several ownership tenures and has managed to turn the generic molecule (Propanil Technical) into a specialty product by continually innovating and developing proprietary mixtures and formulations.

Neil Robbins
Secretary and Director of Finance
Neil has been with RiceCo® since 2002 and has over 30 years of financial experience in the crop protection industry. Prior to joining RiceCo®, he was the Controller at Cedar Chemical Corporation for 7 years, and served as Plant Controller, over-seeing 5 production facilities for Cedar Chemical Corporation for 17 years. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from the University of Memphis.

John Leeper, Ph.D.
Technology
Dr. Leeper has been leading research and development of new product concepts in rice crop protection and product support for RiceCo® since 2000. Prior to joining RiceCo®, he worked in crop protection for DuPont for over 19 years, where he spent significant time working on rice in Asia. During his tenure at DuPont, he established and managed a rice R&D laboratory in Japan.

Jennifer Wells, Ph.D.
US Regulatory and Product Support Manager
Dr. Wells joined RiceCo in June 2010 and is responsible for US Regulatory, product support, and industry relations. Prior to this role, she served as the Technology Manager for Horizon Ag in the CLEARFIELD rice seed business for over 10 years. Jennifer also worked two years as a field biologist for Syngenta in the California rice market. She has a Bachelor's and Master's Degree from the University of Missouri in Plant Science, and a Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas in Weed Science.

Judy Smith
Regulatory
Judy joined RiceCo in May of 2001 as a regulatory consultant responsible for EPA relations and state product registrations. She retired from Helena Chemical Company as Manager of Regulatory Services before becoming a regulatory consultant. Judy has over 20 years of experience in the regulatory arena.

Jim Magana, Business Development
Jim is in charge of creating and managing relationships with third parties offering crop protection products for rice growers. Prior to joining RiceCo®, he worked for DuPont's crop protection division for 37 years, during which he spent the majority of his time in Asia as the Asia Pacific Director and Business Manager for Rice Crop Protection.

Pinky Ghosh
International Operations Director
Pinky joined RiceCo in April of 2011. She has over 10 years of experience within UPL in managing international markets with a specialty in Asia and Africa. Her degree is in Management with a specialization in International Business. Pinky's hobbies include travel, reading and cooking (with rice, of course).

David Wilson
National Sales Manager
David joined RiceCo with over 25 years of experience working in the agriculture industry. Before joining RiceCo, he served as Key Account Executive for Chemtura AgrSolutions. He's also held positions in sales, distribution and management with Terra, CPS, Stoneville and Monsanto. He holds a BS degree in Agriculture from Mississippi State University.

Martin Poveda
Director of International Regulatory Affairs
Martin was born in Colombia, and joined RiceCo in 2008 and established a regional office in Colombia for the Latin American region. He has been involved in all aspects of rice technology with a specialization in disease control. Martin has conducted extensive field research and as a result has accumulated vast knowledge in rice production.

Rafael Vega
Export Manager
Rafael has been on the RiceCo team since 1998. His responsibilities include sales support, documentation and logistics with a focus on customer service. He has over 30 years of experience in import/export in both Peru and in the US. Rafael's degree is in Economics and has experience in international banking, export insurance and logistics management. His hobbies include water sports and boating.

Coleman Grimmett
Controller & Interim Global Supply Chain Manager
Coleman joined RiceCo in November 2012. He has over 14 years of finance and accounting experience with several global manufacturing companies including Medtronic, Mueller Industries, Johnson-Bryce, and Dallas Semiconductor. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree with a specialization in Business Management from Delta State University.

Scott Rushing
U.S. Product Development
Scott joined RiceCo in May of 2013. Prior to joining RiceCo, Scott was employed at BASF for 17 years in various roles, including Field Biologist, Technical Service Representative and most recently Business Representative. He received his B.S. and M.S. in Agronomy from the University of Arkansas.