1. Amalgamated Sugar detail

Amalgamated Sugar’s parent cooperative of beet growers has a new board chairman for the first time in more than a decade.

Members of the Snake River Sugar Co. cooperative, which owns Boise-based Amalgamated Sugar Co. LLC, on Dec. 4 elected Mike Garner of Raft River to succeed Duane Grant of Rupert. Both Idaho growers are board veterans.

Garner was elected to the board in 2008 and for the past 10 years served as governance committee chairman.

“I am excited for the challenge that lies ahead, and I am extremely grateful for Duane Grant’s leadership,” he said in an interview. The company “has never been in as strong a position as it is. He has accomplished many great, challenging tasks. I will benefit from his leadership, and I am going to try to just keep everything moving forward.”

Amalgamated is the second-largest U.S. sugar beet processor. It produces about 12% of the nation’s sugar. Its roughly 750 member farmers grow about 180,000 acres of beets in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The company owns three Idaho sugar factories (Nampa, Twin Falls, Paul), employs about 1,600 people and contributes around 1.7% of Idaho’s Gross State Product. A subsidiary, Amalgamated Research LLC, provides process technology to sugar beet and other manufacturing companies.

“We have an extremely talented management team that works for the company, from the CEO down, and that is one of the strengths of our business,” Garner said. Staff, growers and board members “strive to make the right decisions based on the economics of our industry and be the most profitable we can be … it’s a balance between ongoing costs and trying to deliver a strong beet payment to our growers.”

He has farmed in the Raft River area since 1970 and is a third-generation sugar beet grower. He also has developed expertise in dairy, cattle and agricultural-service industries.

Galen Lee, a board member from New Plymouth, Idaho, said Garner is well-qualified to lead.

“He has lots of experience on the board and has been involved,” Lee said. He expects a smooth transition as Garner continues the leadership momentum Grant established.

“Duane set a lot of things up and got a lot of things done,” Lee said. “Duane’s leadership has the company in a good spot, and Mike will pick up right there and keep rolling.”

Grant in 2004 was elected to the board, which he has chaired since January 2009. He remains on the board.

He is the chairman of Mart Group and is president and CEO of Grant 4-D Farms. He is a recognized expert in agricultural biotechnology, and was a critical player in the sugar beet industry adopting and advancing it, Amalgamated said in a news release.

“Our cooperative is 23 years old, building on the foundation of a 100-year history of sugar production in Idaho,” Grant said in the release. “Periodic transition in leadership is a healthy and required part of being a company with a 100-year future. I am grateful for the talent and dedication that Mike brings to the role of chairman, and I look forward to the future of the cooperative with continued optimism.”