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With the recent Koch Industries acquisition of the former Agrium Advanced Technologies portfolio of fertilizers completed, the remaining issue was what the Canadian ag giant would do with the Agrium Direct Solutions part of the business.
The answer came a few weeks ago. The news was that – instead of being sold to an outside party or shuttered completely – Direct Solutions would roll into Crop Production Services, Inc., Agrium’s ag distribution network. That meant changes for the old specialty network, including consolidating DS offices and personnel into existing CPS locations and closing some operations.
Rich Baker, who’s on point for the CPS/DS changeover, told GCI that more than half of the company’s specialty operation would stay in place. “The good news is that the regions that we are going forward in (New England, Northern Mid-Atlantic, Ohio, Southern Michigan, etc.) maintained their locations and sales teams and those folks aren’t going away. We’ll provide the same service, expertise and agronomy under the CPS banner.”
Baker said current customers don’t have to reapply for credit or change anything and that the transition should be seamless for them.
About nine locations were closed and about 10 remain. Operations in the Southeast, including Texas have ceased as well as Lansing, Mich., Oklahoma City and Nebraska. A few CPS shared locations will continue to offer specialty products as well and there will be some coverage of mountain states.
“It’s painful to see those locations close but CPS simply couldn’t support them well enough,” Baker said. “Customers in shutdown areas with a rebate/credit balance will get a check soon.” In all about 120 employees left the company. “We’re trying to help them all find a new position immediately.”
The Western part of the CPS business led by Karen Watts never changed when Direct Solutions was formed so those joint ag/specialty operations stay the same but now include the former DS sales team from Colorado. “CPS is trying to duplicate its success with the Turf and Ornamental business in the Western U.S.,” Baker said.
Baker said the change was probably needed in a market that is overloaded with distributor sales outlets at the moment. “I always thought consolidation was needed,” he told us. “That said, I didn’t think it would be us…but it’s probably what’s needed and we’ll be a better organization for it.”