Jess Ennis

Email: aboxb2@r.postjobfree.com

Address:

City: Hudson

State: OH

Zip: 44236

Country: USA

Phone: 330-***-****

Skill Level: Any

Salary Range:

Primary Skills/Experience:

Accomplished Executive with demonstrated ability to launch & develop international business, particularly in Latin America. Agricultural specialist with vast on-farm field experience and throughout the international value chain. Creative, innovative & entrepreneurial. Talented writer & speaker, experienced in traditional & new media, fluent in Spanish. Particularly skilled at building relationships & alliances in international settings. Agricultural economist with deep understanding of markets. A passion for agricultural sustainability & for serving a greater good.

Educational Background:

High School Dipolma from The Ohio State University, Columbus OH 1/2001 to 12/1986 (Agricultural & Resource Economics)

Job History / Details:

Executive Profile

Accomplished Executive with demonstrated ability to launch & develop international business, particularly in Latin America. Agricultural specialist with vast on-farm field experience and throughout the international value chain. Creative, innovative & entrepreneurial. Talented writer & speaker, experienced in traditional & new media, fluent in Spanish. Particularly skilled at building relationships & alliances in international settings. Agricultural economist with deep understanding of markets. A passion for agricultural sustainability & for serving a greater good.

Skill Highlights

Strategic planning

Multimillion-dollar P&L Management

New Business Development

Revenue & market expansion

Team leadership

Cross-Cultural Communications

Interpersonal skills

Spanish fluency, basic Portuguese

Core Accomplishments

New Business Development

Launched leading agricultural publication for farmers, in Spanish, in Mexico.

Expanded business geographically into Central America, vertically into farmer events & new media.

Formed Latin American Division; grew it from 0 percentage to 20 percentage of company revenues.

Launched 3 leading farmer conferences in Latin America.

Fiscal Management

Managed all financial activities for division operations.

Accountable for all P&L, budgeting & forecasting.

Guided division to perennial profitability by expanding revenue streams & reducing key costs.

Rescued a venerable global business brand from near collapse to profitability & prestige.

Staff Management & Development

Built an expanding international staff; hired sales managers, sales reps, editors.

Directed international team of managers, editors, sales professionals & support staff.

Created & nurtured an enthusiastic, "Can Do" esprit de corps.

Professional Experience

January 2012 to Current

UniVerve Biofuel

Director for the Americas

Now establishing the US subsidiary of this advanced renewable energy company, which champions the global adoption of 3rd-generation biofuels by developing its innovative technology for algae cultivation to supply feedstock for renewable transportation fuels.

Accelerating development of the company in proving & applying the technology, first in the US, subsequently throughout the Americas.

Created the business plan, executive summary & company abstract, updated monthly.

Conducting fundraising with strategic partners & high-net-worth individuals.

Establishing & developing key contacts with potential strategic partners in industry, government & academia.

Wrote successful grant proposal, approved for Stage-1.

April 1994 to October 2011

Meister Media Worldwide Willoughby, Ohio

Group Publisher / Director Latinoamerica

Directed the launch & development of Spanish-language B2B agricultural media, from the startup of Productores de Hortalizas magazine for Mexican producers, to expansion into Central America, into eMedia & live industry events for producers (International Tomato Congress, International Pepper Congress, International Cucurbit Congress).

Built the Latin American division from scratch into one generating 20 percentage of revenues for the world's foremost agricultural media company.

In building Meister's international arm, advanced from Publisher for Mexico, to Group Publisher for Latin America, to Group Publisher for International Agriculture.

Supervised an international team with personnel in the US, Mexico, Guatemala, Egypt, Pakistan, Israel, Taiwan & Europe.

Led the growth, market prominence, financial & overall success of the international publishing groups as an evolving business division of the company.

Made numerous farm visits as an invited guest in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, India and the US.

Built many lasting friendships throughout Latin American agriculture and globally and solid, positive relationships for the company.

Directed a major launch promotion for "Mexico Supreme Quality," a farmer-to-consumer certifying program of 11 agricultural products.

Launched Fresh Americas magazine, bridging the gap between Latin American producers & US buyers of traditional & exotic fruits & vegetables.

Traveled extensively in Mexico, Central America & Brazil, as well as in India, Turkey & Europe, meeting with growers, clients, leaders in government & agricultural organizations, NGOs & our sales & editorial staff for business-building, collaboration, story & special project development. During all travel, shot photos & video for print & electronic media.

Recruited & directed the Latin American division team, including managers & representatives in the US, Mexico & Central America. Supervised representatives in Europe, Egypt, Pakistan, Taiwan & Israel. Recruited agricultural writers & speakers from Mexico, Central America, Brazil, India & the US.

As the company's only writing publisher, crafted the lead Publisher's Column for every issue more than 250 editorials for Mexico, Central America, the US produce industry & global cotton. Aimed to inform, entertain & influence with this column consistently the highest-rated feature by readers surveyed.

Fluent in Spanish; learning Portuguese. Conducted in-person interviews in English, Spanish, Portuguese with agricultural industry leaders in Latin America & around the world; created in-depth print features & country reports (e.g. Brazil & India) & video for webcast.

Delivered, in Spanish, opening speeches & award presentations at professional producer congresses in Mexico (International Tomato, Pepper & Cucurbit Congresses).

Invited speaker at "Agratech," Israel's International Agricultural Expo.

Resurrected the 70-year-old, flagship brand, Cotton International, guiding it back to profitability & a position of leadership & prestige in the worldwide cotton trade. Launched a Chinese edition in 2011.

March 1988 to August 1991

Wisconsin Rural Development Center Black Earth, Wisconsin

Sustainable Agriculture Project Director

Directed 3-year Sustainable Agriculture Project, a collaborative effort of the WRDC, UW-Madison & the Wisc. Dept. of Agriculture.

Wrote grant proposal & obtained federal funding for the project.

Recruited 40 Wisconsin dairy farmers to participate; half produced organically, half conventionally.

Conducted detailed economic study of the farms, making frequent visits to each & gathering financial data for business modeling & analysis.

Organized frequent field-days, meetings & roundtables of the farmers to discuss practices & exchange ideas.

Tested wells of all farms for contaminants.

Some "conventional" farmers implemented changes to their approach to farming as a result of their involvement.

January 1987 to December 1987

The Land Institute Salina, Kansas

Researcher / Intern

"When people, land, and community are as one, all three members prosper; when they relate not as members but as competing interests, all three are exploited. By consulting Nature as the source and measure of that membership, The Land Institute seeks to develop an agriculture that will save soil from being lost or poisoned, while promoting a community life at once prosperous and enduring." -- The Land Institute

Academic Training,

University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1986

Doctoral studies in Agricultural Economics

Research Fellow

The Ohio State University, 1985

M.S. in Agricultural & Resource Economics

Miami University, Oxford Ohio, 1979

B.S. in Economics; minor in Journalism

Additional Information

Volunteer at International Institute of Akron (Ohio), helping to settle refugees.

Volunteer as youth baseball coach.

Trained in "Global Reporting Initiative," a comprehensive Sustainability Reporting Framework used by organizations around the world to measure & report their economic, environmental, social & governance performance key areas of sustainability.

Taught microeconomics at Kansas Wesleyan University, 1987.

Lived in Mexico for two years; played baseball for the Pescadores of Zihuatanejo.

Owned "Phantasmagoria Gallery of International Folk Art" in Cleveland, 1993-1999; curated exhibits of works by artists in Mexico, Haiti, Central America, Africa & the US, whose often meager incomes received a boost. Traveled to remote areas, bought directly from "folk," "naive" or "outsider" artists -- those not trained in classical disciplines, but whose art is raw expression of the soul.

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