February 08, 2010
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC, February 8, 2010 – BASF Professional Turf & Ornamentals announced it has added four new employees to its team effective immediately. Appointed are Business Manager, Brian Lish; Strategic Account Manager - National Golf, Lawn and Landscape, Derek Miller; and Senior Sales Specialists; Chris Key and Jonathan Smith.
Lish joined BASF in 2006, initially serving as District Business Manager for BASF Crop Protection and most recently as Business Manager for BASF Professional Vegetation Management. Previously, he worked in business development, marketing, product development and operations for the J.R. Simplot Company.
Lish will lead all Turf & Ornamentals business and marketing initiatives for BASF, including business and sales direction, pricing, programs, and development of the group’s overall strategic and long-term goals. He replaces Dr. Toni Bucci, who has taken on a role within BASF at its North American corporate headquarters in Florham Park, New Jersey.
Miller began his career with BASF in 1993 working as a sales specialist in BASF Crop Protection before becoming the marketing communications manager for the BASF Professional Pest Control and Professional Turf & Ornamental businesses in 2000. In 2003, Miller later served as product manager for Professional Pest Control. In 2004, Miller became the marketing manager for the Professional Vegetation Management business.
His most recent role supporting Professional Vegetation Management was that of National Sales Manager. Miller will develop and manage strategic national golf course and lawn and landscape accounts in his new position with the Turf & Ornamentals business.
Chris Key’s depth of experience includes serving as a BASF Professional Pest Control Sales Specialist in Florida for six years before joining the BASF Professional
Vegetation Management team as a Sales Specialist serving Central and Southern Florida for the past four years. Prior to joining BASF, Key worked with Aventis, Bayer, Terminix International and York Distribution. His sales territory will include Central, Southern Florida and Puerto Rico.
Jonathan Smith has served in multiple BASF Professional Vegetation Management roles, including Product Specialist and Associate Marketing Manager, and most recently as Sales Representative for Georgia and South Carolina. His sales territory will include the Charleston, S.C. – area, Southern and Coastal Georgia and Northern Florida.
Key and Smith will help distributors and turfgrass professionals select science-based, chemical solutions for growing healthy turf.
For more information about BASF Turf & Ornamentals visit betterturf.basf.us and betterplants.basf.us or blog about turf at www.basfturftalk.com.
About the Crop Protection Division
With sales of € 3.4 billion in 2008, BASF’s Crop Protection division is a leader in crop protection and a strong partner to the farming industry providing well-established and innovative fungicides, insecticides and herbicides. Farmers use these products and services to improve crop yields and crop quality. Other uses include public health, structural/urban pest control, turf and ornamental plants, vegetation management, and forestry. BASF aims to turn knowledge rapidly into market success. The vision of BASF’s Crop Protection division is to be the world’s leading innovator, optimizing agricultural production, improving nutrition, and thus enhancing the quality of life for a growing world population. Further information can be found on the web at http://agproducts.basf.us.
BASF - The Chemical Company.
BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has more than 15,000 employees in North America, and had sales of approximately $17.5 billion in 2008. For more information about BASF’s North American operations, or to sign up to receive news releases by e-mail, visit www.basf.com/usa.
BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics and performance products to agricultural products, fine chemicals and oil and gas. As a reliable partner, BASF helps its customers in virtually all industries to be more successful. With its high-value products and intelligent solutions, BASF plays an important role in finding answers to global challenges such as climate protection, energy efficiency, nutrition and mobility. BASF posted sales of more than €62 billion in 2008 and had approximately 97,000 employees as of the end of the year. Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.
Always read and follow label directions.
©2010 BASF Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
