Cuba City, Wisconsin, USA
December 3, 2013

Jim Schweigert has been named President of Gro Alliance, the nation’s largest, independent contract seed corn producer. Schweigert had been serving as the vice president of business development for Gro Alliance and has been a leader in improving seed quality and efficiency through the use of innovative technology and information sharing strategies. Jim takes the reigns from his father, Lou Schweigert, who has guided the company since 1977.

“Lou has lead Gro Alliance through an incredible amount of change since 1977. I have seen how industry consolidation, increasingly high seed quality standards and the introduction of GMO traits have impacted many seed companies, but with every shift, he saw opportunity. By executing on our core competencies of delivering industry-leading seed quality, information transparency and building trust at every step, Gro Alliance will continue to adapt and thrive,” said Jim Schweigert.

Since Jim’s return to the family business in 2003, Gro Alliance has expanded from one facility to three and increased production capacity by more than 500 percent. Last year, Gro Alliance also launched My Supply LIVE™, a suite of apps that allows for field data collection using iPhones and shares that data in real time with its clients and internally.

“Jim’s contributions to Gro Alliance are immeasurable and I could not be more proud to name him president of the company,” said Lou Schweigert.

In the industry, Jim founded the American Seed Trade Association’s (ASTA) Future Seed Executives (FuSE) initiative in 2004 and has served on the ASTA board of directors as the Regional Vice President to Canada since 2009. He was also honored as the 2009 recipient of Seed World magazine’s “Future Giant” award. He earned his bachelor’s in public relations from the University of Minnesota and a master’s in seed technology and business from Iowa State University.

Gro Alliance delivers industry-leading seed quality and client-focused supply chain solutions in seed corn production with facilities in Cuba City, Wis., Howe, Ind. and Mount Pulaski, Ill. Gro Alliance was founded in 1941 by Gerald Schweigert and is proud to still be 100 percent owned by the Schweigert family. Gro Alliance is an ISO 9001:2008 certified company.

Website: http://www.groalliance.com/

Published: December 3, 2013