January/February 2020

24 Hours with Tony Bova: Chemist turned entrepreneur, founder of mobius and winner of the 2019 AgSharks Competition

Tony Bova’s fascination with renewable energy truly sparked when he and his good friend, Jeff Beegle, decided, on a whim, to participate in a startup pitch competition during their undergrad at the University of Toledo. The pair, who met in 2012 while conducting academic research for the State of Ohio, joined a team of students that came up with the idea to form a business that could install a set of buffer strips on farmers’ lands to give them the equipment needed to recapture fertilizer runoff with plants and turn those into biogas that could be used to power their facility.

Stephanie Metzinger
A Preferred Choice

People like having a choice rather than a single option—it’s basic human nature. When it comes to healthcare, no one wants to make the wrong choice—especially employers—when so much of their spend goes to healthcare for their employees.

David Zanze
Say Hello to the Connected Worker Program

By Ken Cooper

Did you know the injury rate for agricultural workers is more than 40 percent higher than the rate for all workers? This shocking statistic comes straight from the Occupational Safety & Health Administration and should be one that both business owners and employees remember. Workplace injuries not only affect workers physically, but they can also have long lasting financial and emotional effects on workers and their families. Additionally, there is the financial impact on your business in the form of lost productivity and higher workers compensation costs.

12 Agriculture Leaders Who Are Transforming the World

The United States has the largest economy in the world and has retained this impressive position since 1871. The U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2018 amounted to $20.58 trillion and is only expected to increase in the coming years, with a GDP forecast to exceed nearly $25 trillion in 2024. For comparison, the GDP of China (which ranks as the second-largest economy in the world) reached only $10.43 trillion U.S. dollars in 2018.

Stephanie Metzinger
The Fresh Produce Industry’s New Chief Advocate

Dave Puglia is a political veteran and public policy expert and now the leader of one of the most influential trade associations in agriculture

The blaring ring from the phone pierces through the hotel room, nearly knocking the headset off of its base. A second ring sends vibrations that echo off the walls, nearly knocking Dave Puglia, press secretary to Dan Lungren, out of bed. It’s 4 a.m. on November 6, 1990.

Puglia, who is now functioning off of two hours of sleep over the past 48 hours, drowsily picks up the headset, “Hello?”

Stephanie Metzinger

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