With more than 15 years experience in agribusiness recruiting and employment services, Eric Spell has the proven skills to serve as president of AgCareers. Eric was most recently president/CEO of Jobhog.net, a confidential resume hosting and job posting on-line career site he founded in 2001 for agriculture, food, biotechnology, natural resources and life sciences sectors. Jobhog and AgCareers combined efforts in January 2004. Eric has a B.A. degree in business management from North Carolina State University with a concentration in labor/personnel. While employed with Murphy Farms Inc., as director of recruiting and training, Eric led efforts resulting in over 800 professionals being placed throughout the Midwest and Southeast. After working eight years at Murphy Farms, he founded Potential Solutions Inc., a company providing human resources and training services to the agribusiness sector. His recruiting strategies implemented with flagship agribusiness employers led to his vision for Jobhog. Eric's passion, knowledge and commitment to e-recruiting and online career resources, make him the ideal leader of agriculture's largest online source for jobs and employment services.
Steve Troxler was raised in the Guilford County community of Browns Summit. He graduated from N.C. State University in 1974 with a Bachelor of Science degree in conservation, with a concentration in environmental studies.
He has spent his entire career in agriculture, as founder, owner and operator of Troxler Farms, a family-owned farming operation that produces tobacco and wheat.
Troxler has been active in a variety of agricultural and community organizations. He served on the Board of Directors of North Central Farm Credit Association; the Board of Supervisors of the Guilford County Soil and Water Conservation District; served as a board member and vice president of the Guilford County Farmers Organization; and served on the Guilford County Extension Advisory Board.
He also served as a century member and director of the Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina and is a former secretary of the organization. He served as media spokesman for the group on local, national and international television.
Troxler currently serves on the State Extension Advisory Council at N.C. State University and N.C. A&T State University; North Carolina Tobacco Settlement Phase II Entity Board of Directors; the N.C. Department of Labor’s Agricultural Safety & Health Council; and the Guilford County Farm Bureau’s Board of Directors.
In the community, Troxler was founder and president of the Browns Summit-Monticello Youth Association, a youth sports organization. He established the BSM Community Center and raised funds for facilities improvements. He also served as a volunteer host for the Greensboro Visitors Bureau, working with international visitors, journalists and various school groups and summer programs.
During his career, Troxler has been honored with the Conservation Guardian Award of the Guilford County Soil Conservation Service; the Phillip Morris Outstanding Young Tobacco Farmer Award; the Outstanding Young Farmer Award from the North Carolina Jaycees; and the N.C. Agricultural Extension Service’s Outstanding Service Award. His family was honored as “Tobacco Farm Family of the Year” by the Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina.
Troxler has been married for 32 years to Sharon Gerringer Troxler, director
of marketing and volunteer services with Annie Penn Hospital in Reidsville.
They have two sons: Jeremy, a Methodist minister, currently serving in
Maggie Valley; and Shawn, a third-year law student at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill; a daughter-in-law, Margaret Long Troxler,
a registered nurse.
Ann Ness is Director of Advertising and Brand Management at Cargill, headquartered in Minneapolis with 115,000 employees around the world. Previously, Ann was at Radisson Hotels Worldwide where she was in charge of global advertising and brand management, launching the new Radisson identity in January of 2000. She began her career as a newspaper reporter in southern Indiana, and later St. Louis. She was an advertising agency executive in the Twin Cities before joining Radisson in 1990. She is a graduate of Indiana University. At Cargill, she is responsible for the brand identity and all corporate advertising.
A motivational speaker and inspirational leadership speaker. Greg is the "Captain of the Ship" and President of Chart Your Course International. He is a motivational and inspirational speaker and organizational development consultant specializing in leadership, talent management, organizational change, employee retention, and teambuilding. Located in Atlanta, GA.
Greg's training programs, strategic planning, and consulting services help organizations keep employees working effectively together and rowing in the same direction. He shows organizations how to chart their course to higher performance, improve productivity, reduce turnover, and capture the potential from everyone in the organization. He has been featured in Business Week, USA Today, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, Investors Business Daily, President and CEO, and other publications. He has appeared on television programs including Bloomberg Business News and PBS television.
Robert J. Powell is the Vice President of Human Resources Operations and Workforce Planning for the Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) based in Decatur, IL. In this capacity he has global responsibility for HR Administration, Compensation, Global Education and Training, Professional Staffing, College Recruitment, Supplier Diversity, Workforce Diversity, Succession Planning and Relocation.
Prior to joining ADM, He was Vice President of Human Resources for AT&T Broadband in the Atlanta, GA market, Vice President Human Resources, Americas for Carlson Wagonlit Travel and spent 12 years with the Walt Disney World Company in a variety of human resources positions. Robert is a graduate of the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Communications. He is currently pursuing an MBA from Illinois State University.
As Assistant Dean, Edward currently works in diversity recruitment, retention and student development in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University. He provides academic advising to students in the College and also assists the Agriculture Program Development Office in their diversity fundraising efforts. Edward is co-developer of the AgForLife model; a two dimensional model depicting opportunities in agriculture, food and life sciences. One of Edward’s passions is helping to educate the general public about opportunities in agriculture.
In 1990, Edward received a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Business and a Master of Arts in Agricultural and Extension Education from New Mexico State University in 1991. Following graduation, he worked on special projects with the New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture and in 1992, accepted an appointment as Program Coordinator for the College of Agriculture and Home Economics at New Mexico State University. In 1995, the Edward W. Romero Insurance Agency was created in collaboration with Farm Bureau and its affiliated companies, by providing insurance and financial services to clients. As Associate Manager in 1999, Edward assisted agents in creating and managing their businesses in Northeastern New Mexico. In 2002, Edward was a cluster facilitator at the National Leadershape Institute at the University of Illinois Conference Center at Allerton Park, near Champaign, Illinois. In addition to his many accomplishments, he was recently recognized as Advisor of the Year, by the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement, a non-profit organization from Chicago, Illinois, the 2004 Texas A&M University Enhancing Diversity Award – Administrator category, and Advisor of the Year for a Recognized Student Organization from Student Activities at Texas A&M University.
Edward is originally from New Mexico and resides in Bryan, Texas with his wife and seven-year old daughter. Currently, Edward is pursuing a Ph.D. in the Agricultural Education Department at Texas A&M University.
