Novus International's President & CEO receives 2013 Agribusiness Leader of the Year award

The National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) has named Thad Simons, President and CEO of Novus International, Inc., 2013 Agribusiness Leader of the Year. This award, which is NAMA’s highest honor, was presented to Simons on April 18th at the Opening General Session of the 2013 Agri-Marketing Conference, “Forging New Frontiers,” in Kansas City, Missouri.

NAMA is a non-profit organization of more than 3,500 professional and student members, serving the food and fiber industry. Focused on its members’ professional development, NAMA provides access to solutions and opportunities in Agribusiness.

The Agribusiness Leader of the Year award honors outstanding leaders Like Thad in agribusiness, education, government service or other agribusiness related areas who exemplify excellence in agribusiness by their significant contributions to the industry. Thad is the Fifty-Second recipient of the Agribusiness Leader of the Year Award.

Simons became President and CEO of Novus in 2001, and continues the organization on a path to achieving the Vision, “to help feed the world affordable, wholesome food.” He established the organizational framework to develop solutions specific to new markets based on Novus’s established core technologies. This strategy was successful and today the Novus product portfolio, which began with two products for the poultry industry, now, consists of over 100 products that provide a holistic approach to health through nutrition for poultry, cattle, pigs, farm-raised fish, seafood and people. Novus has employees working in over 100 countries, including a location here in St. Louis at BRDG Park, serving more than 3,000 customers worldwide.

Under Simons’ leadership, Novus has created a unique business model which marries excellence with innovation, sustainability and sharing best practices. The company maintains a culture of collaboration both internally and through interaction with a global network of agricultural students, academia and customers to identify solutions to move the agriculture industry forward.

“I am very proud to accept this award on behalf of all of my Novus colleagues around the world,” stated Simons. “I would also like to thank and congratulate NAMA for putting together an excellent program this year, and for its commitment to providing a platform for Agribusiness professionals to develop leadership skills, connect to one another and to share experiences and lessons on how to become stronger ambassadors for agriculture.”

Past honorees include, John Becherer of the United Soybean Board, Leon Westbrock of CHS Energy, David Seehusen of Land ‘O Lakes, and Jeff Simmons of Elanco.

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