FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, Jan. 14, 2019 Contact: Rob Clark, Michigan Sugar Company, 989-686-0161
Teresa Crook, Mark Sylvester and William ‘Bill’ Zehnder join cooperative’s 13-member Board of Directors
BAY CITY – Three new faces have joined the Michigan Sugar Company Board of Directors and three outgoing directors were recently honored for their service.
New to the board are Teresa Crook of Frankenmuth, Mark Sylvester of Fairgrove and William A. “Bill” Zehnder of Frankenmuth. All three were elected to the board during Michigan Sugar Company’s annual meeting held Thursday, Jan. 10, at Saginaw Valley State University. Crook and Sylvester were elected to serve four-year terms. Also re-elected for another four-year term is incumbent Board Chairman Richard Gerstenberger of Snover.
New Michigan Sugar Company Directors are, from left, Director Teresa Crook, Director Mark Sylvester and Outside Director William A. “Bill” Zehnder.
Crook represents Michigan Sugar Company’s West District, Sylvester the Central District and Gerstenberger the East District. Zehnder, who is President of the Frankenmuth Bavarian Inn, is serving a two-year term as an Outside Director.
Following the annual meeting, officers were elected to serve for the coming year. They are: Chairman Richard Gerstenberger, Vice Chairman Clark Gerstacker of Midland, Secretary Adam Herford of Elkton and Treasurer Mark Richards of Dresden, Ontario.
Michigan Sugar Company’s Officers for 2019 are, from left, Adam Herford, Secretary; Richard Gerstenberger, Chairman; Clark Gerstacker, Vice Chairman; and Mark Richards, Treasurer.
The Michigan Sugar Company Board of Directors gathers during the company’s Annual Meeting held Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019, at Saginaw Valley State University. They are, from left: Back row – Mark Richards, William Meylan, Clark Gerstacker, Clay Crumbaugh, Mark Sylvester, Tom Gettel and Adam Herford. Front row – Jim Roggenbuck, Teresa Crook, William A. “Bill” Zehnder, Richard Gerstenberger, Warren Bierlein and Tom Wadsworth.
The Michigan Sugar Company Board of Directors is now composed of:
• Richard Gerstenberger, Chairman, of Snover
• Clark Gerstacker, Vice Chairman, of Midland
• Adam Herford, Secretary, of Elkton
• Mark Richards, Treasurer, of Dresden, Ontario
• Warren Bierlein of Vassar
• Teresa Crook of Frankenmuth
• Clay Crumbaugh of St. Louis
• Tom Gettel of Sebewaing
• William Meylan of Auburn
• James Roggenbuck of Harbor Beach
• Mark Sylvester of Fairgrove
• Thomas Wadsworth of Sandusky
• William A. “Bill” Zehnder, Outside Director, of Frankenmuth
During the annual meeting, outgoing directors Charlie Bauer (Vice Chairman), Kent Houghtaling and Ken Kousky (Outside Director) were honored for their years of service to the board. Bauer was elected to the board in 2005, Houghtaling in 2011 and Kousky in 2010.
About Michigan Sugar Company
Michigan Sugar Company was founded in 1906 when six smaller sugar companies merged their operations. In 2002, Michigan Sugar Company became a grower-owned cooperative and in 2004 merged with Monitor Sugar Company to form the company that exists today.
Michigan Sugar Company is headquartered in Bay City and has sugarbeet processing facilities in Bay City, Caro, Croswell and Sebewaing. The company’s nearly 900 grower-owners plant and harvest up to 160,000 acres of sugarbeets each year in 20 Michigan counties, as well as Ontario, Canada. Those beets are sliced at the factories and turned into about 1.3 billion pounds of sugar annually.
That sugar is sold to industrial, commercial and retail customers under the Pioneer and Big Chief brands.
Michigan Sugar Company has 930 year-round employees and an additional 1,100 seasonal workers. It is the No. 1 employer in Huron County, the No. 2 employer in Bay and Sanilac counties and the No. 3 employer in Tuscola County.
The company’s annual payroll is about $65 million and its annual local economic impact is about $500 million.
Outgoing Directors are, from left, Vice Chairman Charlie Bauer, Kent Houghtaling and Outside Director Ken Kousky.
