Jim Hines, Chief Executive Officer –
Prior to founding RiceCo, Jim 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.



Matt Plitt, Director of Business Operations –
Matt joined RiceCo in 2008 and is responsible for managing the sales, marketing and operations of the domestic business. Prior to this role, he served as the Marketing Director for Agriliance LLC’s Coastal Division from October 2003 through January 2008. Matt also has experience in various agricultural Product and Marketing Management roles with BASF Corporation where he worked from July 2000 to October 2003. Matt began his career with American Cyanamid Company, a division of American Home Products, in 1997 as a Sales Representative in the mid-south. Matt has earned a Bachelors of Science in Biology and Masters in Business Administration.



Neil Robbins, Director of Finance–
Neil’s 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 financial controller at Cedar Chemical, where he worked for over 18 years.




Andres Biguria, Director of Supply Chain –
In December of 2004, Andres joined RiceCo as Supply Chain Coordinator and has since escalated to his current role at the Company. Prior to working with RiceCo, he worked two 4 month terms with Kellogg’s in Central America in 2003 and 2004 as an Engineering Analyst. Andres holds a Bachelors of Science in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University.



Craig Sandoski, Ph.D., U.S. Product Development Manager –
Dr. Sandoski joined RiceCo in May of 2009 and is responsible for research and development of new product concepts and product support in the United States.  Prior to this role, Craig served in various roles for Syngenta to include regional leadership roles in R&D in both the Western and Southern regions of the US.  He began his career with American Cyanamid Company in 1986 as a Technical Service Representative in the Mid-West.  Craig has a Bachelors degree in Biology as well as a M.S. and Ph.D. in Entomology.


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.



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.