Atlanta – Georgia-Pacific appointed Tom Snipes as national accounts manager and John Kruse as research agronomist for the Nitamin nitrogen fertilizer technology business.
Snipes will lead Nitamin business team efforts to establish and enhance marketing relationships with distribution channels in the agricultural markets.
Kruse will coordinate research trial efforts for the professional turf and row crop markets to determine the optimal uses of Nitamin brand fertilizers, and will collaborate with the Nitamin business team on go-to-market strategies.
“We are pleased to welcome Tom and John to the Nitamin team,” says Dave Torrance, Nitamin project manager for Georgia-Pacific. “Tom’s extensive background in agricultural distribution and product management will be an asset to our expanding commercialization efforts to bring Nitamin to new markets throughout the U.S. Also, with the addition of John to our team, we further solidify our commitment to advance the extensive university trials and field research that are already under way.”
Snipes brings a broad knowledge of U.S. agriculture distribution channels across a number of crops and has more than 10 years of experience in agricultural distribution and product management. He was most recently vice president of sales and marketing for Diamond R Fertilizer Co. based in Fort Pierce, Fla. He served on the Tenkoz board of directors as well as the board for the Florida Fertilizer and Agrichemical Association. He has also worked as a North American product manager for Cerexagri and as an area manager in the Upper Midwest/Great Lakes area for United Agri Products. Snipes received a bachelors degree in business from the University of South Carolina.
Prior to joining Georgia-Pacific, Kruse held plant operations and sales positions at distribution companies in Georgia. He was a chemical and fertilizer representative to the professional turf industry for Southern States Cooperative, where he was responsible for sales and technical support of slow-release fertilizer blends and pesticides. While at Southern States Cooperative, Kruse diagnosed turf health problems and prescribed fertility and pesticide solutions. Kruse started his career at The Scotts Company where he rose from bulk coordinator to plant operations manager and finally technical representative to the professional turf industry. Kruse achieved ABD status at the University of Georgia and is expected to complete his Ph.D. by December 2005. In addition, he holds an M.S. and B.S.A. degree from the University of Georgia. He also has published articles about soil and turfgrass in Through the Green and Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems.
Georgia-Pacific expands Nitamin team
Tom Snipes was named national accounts manager for specialty crop and row crop markets, while John Kruse was named research agronomist for professional turf and row crop markets.
