Werner hired as specialist for Whayne Supply

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Ben Werner has accepted the position of sprayer/application sales specialist for Whayne Supply Co. Werner holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in agriculture with a specialization in agricultural mechanization from Murray State University.
He has also worked at various agricultural equipment dealerships before coming to Whayne Supply. His previous position at Whayne was ag service foreman for its Evansville branch.
Whayne Supply and The CAT Rental Store is a dealer for Caterpillar, Ag Chem, Challenger, Lexion and other lines of agricultural equipment. In addition to its home office in Louisville, Whayne has branches in Ashland, Bowling Green, Corbin, Dry Ridge, Hazard, Lexington, Paducah and Pikeville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind.

CountryMark adds two senior managers

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — CountryMark, Indiana’s farmer-owned oil company, is pleased to announce the addition of two members to its senior management team. Rick Sumner and Mike Gibbons recently joined CountryMark Energy Resources, LLC, the newly created petroleum exploration and production subsidiary of Indianapolis-based Country-Mark Cooperative, LLP. Sumner will serve as vice president of Exploration, while Gibbons will be vice president of Production.

Sumner comes to CountryMark from Evansville-based Core Min-erals Operating Co., Inc., whose assets were recently purchased by CountryMark. He served as vice president of Exploration. At CountryMark, Sumner will head up CountryMark’s oil exploration efforts and will work out of the cooperative’s Indianapolis offices.
He received his B.S. in geology from Ball State University and his M.S. in geology from Southern Illinois University. He is a Certified Petroleum Geologist with the American Assoc. of Petroleum Geologists and a Licensed Professional Geologist in the state of Indiana.

Gibbons comes to CountryMark from Houston, Texas-based Noble Energy where he served as engineering manager for local operations out of Crossville, Ill. He will be responsible for all aspects of developing discovered oil reserves and will work out of the company’s Evansville office.

Gibbons holds a B.S. in engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla and a B.S. in biology from Illinois State University. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Indiana.

Five Michigan barns honored for preservation honors

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Five Michigan barns have been named 2010 Barns of the Year by the Michigan Barn Preservation Network (MBPN). Another nine barn owners received certificates of appreciation for preservation.

As uses for “heritage barns” (those made before 1957) have changed over the years, the MBPN has created five categories within which barns can be nominated for recognition. This year’s honorees include the Springhill Barn at Tillers International in Scotts as a barn in use by a nonprofit organization, the Hecht Family Barn in Vassar for private continued agricultural use, the Omega Farms Show Barn in Williamston for commercial use, the Stein Family Barn in Evart for private adaptive use and the former Botsford/Stewart Coach House Barn in Farmington Hills as an adaptive reuse of an historic structure.

The owners of Michigan barns who received certificates of appreciation were Stephan and Frances Fay of Levering, Paul Hartleb of Port Sanilac, Tim McCale of Deckerville, James Keith of Shelbyville, Roger Mejeur of Richland, Glenn and Sandra Paradis of Kewadin, Naon Paul and Teri Nitz of Buchanan, Cliff and Delores Simons of St. Charles and Gary and Wendy Steudle of Lake Leelenau. For more information about the Barn of the Year program and the MBPN, visit www.mibarn.net

Clarkson joins JCB as VP for Eastern Region

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Leading heavy equipment manufacturer JCB is pleased to announce that Van Clarkson is joining the company as its vice president of sales for the Eastern Region.

He will be responsible for all dealer sales in North America’s Eastern Region, with all eight district managers in this sales territory reporting directly to him. Clarkson will also be tasked with strengthening JCB’s distribution network and working with dealers in the Eastern Region to increase both market share and overall revenues.

A resident of Winterville, N.C., Clarkson comes to JCB from being vice president of sales for Hyster Co., a leading global manufacturer of materials handling equipment. Clarkson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in business management and an MBA in leadership and organizational change management, both from North Central College in Naperville, Ill.

Mahindra USA adds two new faces

HOUSTON, Texas — Mahindra USA hired a new director of After Sales Support and a new business manager for the Florida, Georgia and South Carolina regions.

Joe LaFollette has joined as director to oversee the Parts, Service and Quality departments, and brings more than 18 years of experience in the tractor industry to Mahindra USA.
Kelly Wilder has joined as a business manager and comes to Mahindra with an extensive background in the outdoor power equipment industry.