Dow AgroSciences President and CEO Tim Hassinger shares his perspective on risk.
Named president and chief executive officer of Dow AgroSciences May 1, 2014, Tim Hassinger has been plowing ahead. “We’re in a growth mode and we’re working with new technologies that are part of a highly-regulated market,” Hassinger says, adding that you learn to never take anything for granted. “The value of the technologies in our pipeline is when they are ultimately registered and they’re in the marketplace and we’re able to sell them.”
The Indianapolis-based company just received approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture for its Enlist Weed Control System, something the company has been waiting on for five years. While this is a monumental step forward for the company, they still have hurdles to overcome, such as getting import approval from China and addressing concerns from environmental and activist groups. At this point in time, Hassinger says the risk to any science-based or research-based company is the ability to get new technologies into the marketplace.
Hassinger who has been with Dow since 1984 attributes part of the company’s success to having its research and development department very aligned with the business unit, and making sure that they’re all working toward a common goal. He says one of the company’s strengths is its ability to get more from less. “We think we are very good in the area of collaboration that specifically benefits our customers,” he says. “Satisfying our customers and understanding customer needs is extremely important.”
Hassinger first started for Dow as a sales trainee in Michigan on the chemical side of the business. Since then, he’s held numerous positions from supply chain planning specialist to product marketing manager and from global business leader in the Americas to global commercial leader for crop protection — all of which give him a broad perspective to draw upon.
“We want to be recognized as a company that has very good people, excellent technology and that meets customer needs,” Hassinger says.
