Monsanto continues to expand its seed business.Name: Dennis Dennis is a male first name derived from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius meaning "servant of Dionysus", the Thracian god of wine, which is ultimately derived from the Greek Dios (Διος, "of Zeus") combined with Nysos or Nysa (Νυσα), where the Plummer Title: President, American Seeds Inc Seeds was a Japan-based independent video game development company. It was founded on August 1,2006 by Shinji Mikami, Atsushi Inaba and Hideki Kamiya, the former key members of Capcom's Clover Studio and still retains many other former members of the studio. ., subsidiary of Monsanto, St. Louis, MO. Started his career with Butler Manufacturing Co. then moved to Pfizer Genetics genetics, scientific study of the mechanism of heredity. While Gregor Mendel first presented his findings on the statistical laws governing the transmission of certain traits from generation to generation in 1856, it was not until the discovery and detailed study of before joining Monsanto in 1980. Education: B.A. from Monmouth College History Monmouth College was founded on April 18, 1853 by the Second Presbytery of Illinois, a frontier arm of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. The college celebrates this date annually as "Founders Day", cancelling classes for a day of celebration and an honors (IL), M.S. from St. Louis University. Responsibilities: Oversees the seed companies owned by Monsanto's American Seeds Inc. subsidiary. AM: Why did Monsanto form its new American Seeds Inc. (ASI ASI, n See Anxiety Sensitivity Index. ) subsidiary? DP: ASI was a means to provide regional seed companies with capital and to directly connect their product development efforts with Monsanto's technology pipeline. In turn, these regional seed companies will provide more growers with improved products and more choices. What started out as an idea just 18 months ago has become a $200 million business unit for Monsanto. AM: What have been its activities to date? DP: ASI acquired Channel Bio (Crows Crow 1 n. pl. Crow or Crows In both senses also called Absaroke. 1. a. A Native American people formerly inhabiting an area of the northern Great Plains between the Platte and Yellowstone , Wilson, Midwest) in November 2004, NC+ in March 2005, "Core Group" companies (Fontanelle fontanelle /fon·ta·nelle/ (fon?tah-nel´) a soft spot, such as one of the membrane-covered spaces remaining at the junction of the sutures in the incompletely ossified skull of the fetus or infant. , Stewart, Trelay, Stone); Specialty Hybrids in September 2005; and Gold Country Seed and Heritage Seeds on March 1, 2006. AM: How is a seed company managed following its purchase by ASI? DP: ASI retains the management team of the acquired company. The management team of the regional seed company collaborates with ASI management to develop a budget and business plan and then executes that plan. ASI works to provide the regional seed company with the best possible germplasm and biotechnology traits, along with any corporate services Activities that combine or consolidate certain enterprise-wide needed support services, provided based on specialized knowledge, best practices, and technology to serve internal (and sometimes external) customers and business partners. that improve business performance. AM: What does AS/look for when considering the purchase of a seed company? DP: We have a set of criteria that are important to us which would include geographical footprint The amount of geographic space covered by an object. A computer footprint is the desk or floor surface it occupies. A satellite's footprint is the earth area covered by its downlink. See form factor. 1. , sales/marketing capabilities, financial performance and management culture/talent. Each acquisition is different because of the unique circum stances of how companies are organized and the goals of its owners. For example, in some acquisitions, we purchased only the commercial operations, the brand name and sales/marketing organizations. Some owners prefer to retain the production facilities and in those cases we have contracted our seed production with them. AM: How does ASI determine a value of a seed company? DP: We use all the standard financial metrics metrics Managed care A popular term for standards by which the quality of a product, service, or outcome of a particular form of Pt management is evaluated. See TQM. , ratios and multiples. It is important that we develop a realistic business plan to use the acquired company to grow earnings and make the investment accretive to shareholders. AM: What are ASI's measure(s) of success? DP: Monsanto wants ASI and its regional seed companies to reach more farmers with more new products. In doing so, farmers can be more profitable and Monsanto earns a better return on its significant investment in R&D. We want the businesses to grow, but don't have unreasonable expectations. As a guideline guideline Medtalk A series of recommendations by a body of experts in a particular discipline. See Cancer screening guidelines, Cardiac profile guidelines, Gatekeeper guidelines, Harvard guidelines, Transfusion guidelines. , we want them to keep pace with Monsanto's overall growth rate over recent years. (Note: Monsanto top line growth in the past two years has averaged 13 percent). AM: Two of Monsanto's other brands, Dekalb and Asgrow, are also active in the marketplace where AS/companies are operating. How is that handled? DP: On occasion, the brands will run into each other. However, we believe the national and regional brand approach is more complimentary than competitive. Dekalb is Monsanto's largest brand and even though it has nearly doubled its share in the past five years, it still has only 16 percent of the U.S. seed corn market. So there are still many more acres that we can be serving. The marketing activities of ASI and Monsanto's other brands are completely separate. The directors that run Monsanto's major business units meet monthly, but individual seed company marketing programs are not discussed. AM: Going forward, what does it take to be successful in today's seed business? DP: Seed is a local business and in most cases based on trust between the farmer and the seed provider. ASI is a vehicle to link the strengths of the local market approach of the regional seed company with the new products and technology coming from the Monsanto pipeline. Seed choice is considered by growers to be their most important crop decision. It is analogous analogous /anal·o·gous/ (ah-nal´ah-gus) resembling or similar in some respects, as in function or appearance, but not in origin or development. a·nal·o·gous adj. to how one invests money. Like the individual investor who chooses a financial advisor he/she can trust, we believe farmers rely on their seed suppliers for the brands/hybrids in which they should invest. It is our intention to provide the farmer with that trusted advice and the products they need to remain competitive in our global ag economy. |
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