ST. LOUIS, Nov. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Bunge North America, the North America operating arm of Bunge Limited , announced it has promoted five people as part of a company reorganization. Todd Bastean becomes general manager of the newly created Bunge Biofuels unit; Greg Bechtel is named general manager of Bunge Oilseed Processing; Rodney Perry becomes general manager of Bunge Milling; Bailey Ragan is named general manager of Bunge Grain; and Mike Snow is promoted to manager of the newly created industrial management department.
These promotions follow the announcement last month that Bunge North America created three executive vice president positions that were filled by Tim Gallagher, Larry Clarke and Fred Luckey.
"The goal of the reorganization is to ensure that our structure will support our growth plans," said Carl Hausmann, president and CEO, Bunge North America. "While the executive vice presidents will work closely together to identify and pursue growth opportunities across the value chain, Todd, Greg, Rodney, Bailey and Mike will concentrate their efforts on maximizing the potential in each of their areas of responsibility."
As general manager of Bunge Biofuels, Todd Bastean will continue to build the team for this expanding line of business for Bunge. He joined Bunge North America in 1992 as manager of internal audit. Bastean has served in a number of roles since then including director of strategic planning and chief administration officer for Bunge Milling. Most recently, he has been chief administrative officer for Bunge Grain.
Greg Bechtel has been with Bunge Oilseed Processing since 2004 and as general manager will be responsible for all commercial and operational activities. Bechtel most recently served as commercial manager of Bunge Oilseed Processing.
In his role as general manager of Bunge Milling, Rodney Perry will oversee all sales, operations and commercial activities. He joined Bunge in 2000 as Bunge Milling sales manager with responsibilities that included sales, logistics, quality and innovation.
Bailey Ragan becomes general manager of Bunge Grain overseeing all operational and commercial activities. He has been with Bunge North America since 1982, joining the company in the commercial department at the soybean processing facility in Decatur, Ala. He worked in oilseed processing until 2002 when he moved to Bunge Grain. Ragan most recently served as vice president and asset manager of Bunge Grain.
In his new role as manager of industrial management, Mike Snow will lead all BNA engineering and operations support activities as well as activities related to productivity quality, safety and the environment. Snow has been with Bunge North America for 22 years and has worked at the soybean processing facilities in Destrehan, La., Cairo, Ill., and Council Bluffs, Iowa. Most recently, he was operations manager for Bunge Oilseed Processing.
"We are fortunate that we have such talented and experienced individuals who can assume these responsibilities without missing a beat," said Hausmann. "Not only are they experts in their own areas, they also will work well with each other to ensure that our operations are fully integrated and aligned."
About Bunge North America
Bunge North America (http://www.bungenorthamerica.com/), the North American operating arm of Bunge Limited , is a vertically integrated feed and food ingredient company, supplying raw and processed agricultural commodities and specialized food ingredients to a wide range of customers in the livestock, poultry, food processor, foodservice, bakery and biofuels industries. With headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, Bunge North America and its subsidiaries operate grain elevators, oilseed processing plants, edible oil refineries and packaging facilities, and corn dry mills in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
About Bunge Limited
Bunge Limited (http://www.bunge.com/) is an integrated, global agribusiness and food company operating in the farm-to-consumer food chain. Founded in 1818 and headquartered in White Plains, New York, Bunge has 22,000 employees and locations in 32 countries. Bunge is the world's leading oilseed processing company, the largest producer and supplier of fertilizers to farmers in South America and the world's leading seller of bottled vegetable oils to consumers.
