The U.S. Grains Council has promoted Erick Erickson to vice president. With more than 30 years of international agriculture experience, he will be given latitude to redefine the post and concentrate his efforts on the organization’s administrative and financial health, as well as global strategies. Erickson has served in a variety of positions at the USGC, including director of global strategies, executive director for membership, administration and communication, and director of planning and evaluation. USGC also added Nick Lashinsky as its new manager of communications. In this role, he will help develop, implement and manage the council’s online presence, including its website, social media and USGC publications. Lashinsky has more than 13 years of experience in public relations and communications.

Lesaffre has announced the launch of a new business unit. The new unit, Leaf Technologies, will focus on the worldwide sales and market development of value-added fermentation solutions for fuel ethanol and biobased chemical producers. The mission of Leaf Technologies is to reinforce Lesaffre’s current position on the first-generation fuel ethanol market and continue innovating in the field of lignocellulosic ethanol.

Arthur Ragauskas has been named the 15th University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge National Laboratory governor’s chair. He will serve as governor’s chair for biorefining, based in UT’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering with a complementary appointment in the UT Institute of Agriculture’s Department of Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries. He will serve in the U.S. Energy and Environmental Sciences Directorate, Biosciences Division, at ORNL and as a member of the Department of Energy’s BioEnergy Science Center. Ragauskas begins at UT on June 1. He comes to the new position from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he is a professor of chemistry and biochemistry and researcher within the Institute of Paper Science and Technology. 

Superior Industries Inc. has added Roland Duer in the position of international sales and business development manager. He will represent Superior Industries throughout Latin America. Duer has more than 25 years of business experience in building relationships and developing opportunities. He most recently served as product manager and purchasing manager at Condumex Inc.

AIMS Inc. has announced a partnership with RINAlliance Inc., a provider of renewable fuel blending compliance software services. The partnership offers AIMS’ clients value-added services that deliver clear solutions designed specifically for a marketer’s business needs.

Interstates Companies has announced that Scott Peterson, chief financial officer of the company and Harbor Group president, has been promoted to CEO. He will assume the new role Sept. 1. Peterson succeeds Larry Den Herder, who has served as CEO since 2001, Den Herder will remain chairman of the board until the close of 2016. Prior to working at Interstates, Peterson worked for KPMG Peat Marwick and Valero Energy.

Grain Processing Corp. has joined the Renewable Fuels Association. The company produces high-quality ethanol, corn gluten feed, gluten meal and a variety of other products at its plants in Muscatine, Iowa, and Washington, Ind.
 
Aventine Renewable Energy has appointed Seth King director of coproduct merchandising. He is responsible for merchandising all coproducts, including dried distillers grains, wet distillers grains, corn gluten feed, corn gluten feed meal, corn gluten germ and corn oil. Kind most recently worked for the U.S. trading arm of COFCO Corp. in Chicago as a trader with responsibility for purchasing grains and other products for export to China.

GCube, an underwriter for renewable energy initiatives, has launched a political risk insurance offering in response to a rising number of client enquiries regarding political and credit risk. With these new capabilities, CGube is seeking to target markets in Latin America, Africa, Asia Pacific and Central Asia.

Archer Daniels Midland Co. has named Ian Pinner vice president of corporate strategic and financial planning. He will help develop and drive ADM’s corporate strategic growth plan and its business performance plan. He will also lead the company’s annual business planning process. Pinner previously served as president of ADM’s grain group. The company has also named Christina McGlone-Hahn director of corporate strategy and competitive analysis. She most recently served as head of agricultural commodities research at Deutsche Bank.