Around The Industry: July/August 2012

Randon Wilson Honored As 'Sugar Man of the Year 2011’
    Randon W. Wilson, senior lawyer with the Salt Lake City law firm of Jones, Waldo, was honored as “Sugar Man of the Year 2011” during a mid-May luncheon of the Sugar Club in New York City.

Randon Wilson

    Wilson is the 54th recipient of this prestigious Dyer Memorial Award, named after the founder of B.W. Dyer & Company, a 109-year-old brokerage company for sweeteners and other foods.
    Wilson played a key role in sugarbeet grower cooperatives’ successful acquisitions of the Amalgamated Sugar Company, Michigan Sugar Company and Western Sugar Company (now Western Sugar Cooperative) in the late 1990s and early 2000s.  More recently, he helped organize Sugar Growers & Refiners, a Louisiana cooperative comprised of cane growers, sugarcane mills and landowners.  Wilson then aided the cooperative as it entered into a joint venture with Cargill, Inc., and Imperial Sugar Company to form Louisiana Sugar Refining (LSR).  LSR built and now operates the nation’s newest cane sugar refinery at Gramercy, La., having opened its doors in 2011.
    During his career, Wilson also has represented numerous other cooperatives engaged in a variety of agricultural sectors.
    Born in Logan, Utah, and raised on a dairy farm that also produced sugarbeets, Wilson graduated from Utah State University and later earned his law degree from the University of Utah.  He served in the U.S. Army as an infantry officer in Vietnam prior to joining Jones, Waldo, where he remains fully active.  He and his wife, Virginia, have six children, 27 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
    In reading Wilson’s Sugar Club award citation, Lonnie Champagne, chief executive officer of Sugar Growers & Refiners, stated:
    “Randon Wilson, you have had a truly distinguished career in which  you have assisted the sugar industry for many years.  You played a major role in the vertical integration of the beet sugar industry and thereby have enabled it to become a far more reliable suppler of sugar to meet the nation’s needs.  More recently, you have also contributed to integration in the cane sugar industry. . . .
    “The impact you have had on the sugar industry has been truly remarkable.  Among other things, our colleagues admire your hard work, dedication, business savvy and negotiating skills.
    “Your many outstanding accomplishments are a credit to the sugar industry.  It is an honor to add your name to the roll of distinguished recipients of the Dyer Memorial Award.”       

37th ASSBT Biennial Meeting Scheduled for Feb. 27-March 2
    The American Society of Sugar Beet Technologists will celebrate the 75th anniversary of its founding during the organization’s 37th biennial meeting, to be held on February 27-March 2, 2013.  The meeting takes place at the Disneyland Resort, Anaheim, Calif.
    The event begins on the 27th with registration, poster setup and the evening President’s Reception.  A general session is held on the morning of the 28th, followed by agricultural and operations technical sessions that afternoon and throughout the next two days.  The 2013 ASSBT meeting concludes with the traditional awards banquet on the evening of March 2.
    Complete meeting information, including registration details, will be posted on the ASSBT’s website — www.bsdf-assbt.org — as it becomes available. 

2013 International Sugarbeet Institute March 13-14 in Fargo
    The 51st edition of the International Sugarbeet Institute will be held March 13 and 14, 2013, at the Fargodome in Fargo, N.D.  The ISBI is North America’s largest sugarbeet industry trade show.   
    Any companies desiring preliminary exhibiting information for the 2013 International Sugarbeet Institute can contact exhibits coordinator Bob Cournia at (218) 281-4681.  Other ISBI-related questions should be directed to Dr. Mohamed Khan, organizing committee chairman, at (701) 231-8596. 

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