Davis, California, USA
November 10, 2011
Seed Biotechnology Center expands the Seed Business 101 (SM) (SB101) course by offering sessions with curriculum focused on field crops. Two outstanding industry executives will join the team of Seed Business 101 core instructors to facilitate the Field Crops curriculum.
Dr. Tom Francis has over 30 years’ experience in the seed business. Dr. Francis began his career with Agriculture Canada as a Research Scientist after obtaining his PhD in Genetics and Plant Breeding from the University of Guelph. He joined Northrup King in 1980 as Research Director and held various roles within that company including General Manager for the Canadian division and Vice President of Research for the U.S. With the formation of Novartis, later Syngenta, Dr. Francis had various roles of increasing responsibility including Global Head of Product Evaluation and Assessment. Dr. Francis has been an active member of the Canadian and American seed industries and has served as President for CSTA and as Vice President for ASTA. Though retired from Syngenta, he continues to consult to the industry and maintains a special interest in attracting and developing new talent within the seed industry.
Dave Westphal is an accomplished executive possessing more than 41 years of diverse management experience in worldwide agribusiness for Cargill Inc. and Monsanto. Mr. Westphal has held positions as COO, Holden’s Foundation Seeds LLC and Corn States Business Services and Hawaiian Research for Monsanto, Area Co-Director for Sub-Saharan Africa, Vice Chairman Sansako Seeds, Managing Director Carnia Seeds and Vice President for Cargill Inc. in various Seed Product Line responsibilities (Cargill Hybrid Seeds/ Paymaster Seeds/ PAG SEEDS/ Bounty Hybrid Wheat) and Grain Origination, Crop Protection and Fertilizer Distribution businesses both domestic and international. Founder and CEO of D3 Consulting, LLC and joining CONTEXT, Mr. Westphal is currently engaged in consulting activities with foundations and alliances in Africa working with start-up seed businesses. Dave is recognized for expertise in building successful companies, P&L management , product management, problem solving, setting strategy and direction, finances, capital projects and acquisitions, developing people, marketing and creating product value.
Seed Business 101 is one week course designed to expose the participants to the five functional areas of a seed company (R&D, production, operations, sales and marketing and administration). By creating a virtual seed company and case studies for each functional area, the course content is delivered in a very interactive way. During each of the 4 case studies, participants assume a different functional responsibility within the company. The course gives employees new to the seed industry a broad understanding of the major aspects of a seed company’s operations and cross-departmental knowledge of best practices for profitability. The course is taught by widely respected industry executives with additional help of industry experts participating as guest speakers.
The first session of the Seed Business 101 Field Crops is scheduled for June 11-15, 2012, in Minneapolis, MN.
For registrations fees, additional dates and other details please visit www.sbc.ucdavis.edu or contact Jeannette Martins at jmartins@ucdavis.edu.
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