Calyxt announced today the hiring of William F. (Bill) Koschak, as Chief Financial Officer of Calyxt, effective January 7, 2019. Koschak will be assuming the responsibilities of current interim CFO, Eric Dutang, who remains CFO of Cellectis, Calyxt’s parent company.
“Bill’s impressive professional background, especially his extensive experience in the consumer packaged goods and food service industries brings a unique combination of skills that will be crucial to the team as we advance towards commercialization of our first food ingredient, our high-oleic soybean oil,” says Jim Blome, Calyxt CEO. “We look forward to working with Bill as we move into a new and exciting year for Calyxt, and continue towards our mission to make the food Americans love a healthier choice.”
Koschak brings over 25 years of corporate, finance and accounting leadership to Calyxt, having spent most of the last ten years as an operating or corporate CFO. Most recently, Koschak was vice president, Finance for the Brain Therapies business unit of Medtronic and also served as interim vice president, general manager, for one of the units of Brain Therapies for several months. Prior to Medtronic, Koschak also held executive positions at Young America Holdings, where he was CFO, General Mills, and KPMG LLP. For the majority of his 10 years with General Mills, he was vice president, Finance for the Convenience Stores & Foodservice segment. He was a partner at KPMG where he focused on complex financial matters and financial trading, investment banking and lending businesses. In his varied roles across industries, Koschak gained deep financial expertise and experience in corporate and operating finance roles, capital markets, M&A, and business strategy. He was recognized as a CFO of the Year by the Twin Cities Business Journal in 2016 and currently serves on the board of 1st Financial Bank USA.
“I am thrilled to be joining Calyxt at such an important phase in its growth,” comments Bill Koschak. “Calyxt has been leading the way with its innovative approach to create healthier food ingredients, and now the company is on the cusp of commercializing the world’s first gene-edited product to benefit consumers. I’m excited to begin working with the team to help them capitalize on this important moment in agricultural and food history.”
