Photo courtesy of CBH.
Wally Newman, chairman of CBH, said the cooperative is working on a detailed internal and external, global search for the next CEO of the CBH Group.
“The board is keen to run an open and thorough process to find the next leader of CBH and take the time needed to make the right choice,” Newman said.
Crane joined the Grain Pool of Western Australia in 2001 and became well known to the grain growers of Western Australia and their customers across Asia and the Middle East, first marketing the barley crop and then all grains following the deregulation of single desk marketing.
“While I have been fortunate to do many roles across the CBH Group and represent the business in forums across the world, there is nothing I like more than talking with our growers at regular meetings in the wheat belt and working with their customers so they truly value the unique connection the cooperative can bring between the producer and the customer,” Crane said. “Over the years, I have been grateful for the support, guidance, grower expertise and proactive challenge of the board as we have worked together to address a number of issues in the business and relentlessly pursue the protection, creation and return of value to growers.”
Newman said the board wished to acknowledge Crane’s tireless work with successive boards, executive teams and staff to strengthen the cooperative in his time as CEO.
“Andy leaves a legacy that he and growers can be proud of,” Newman said. “Key successes include working through the deregulation of the grain export industry, investment in rail and downstream processing, the introduction of Quality Optimization, Harvest Mass Management, Grain Express, the introduction of rebates, the launch of a transformational network strategy and the very confident reconfirmation of the co-operative business model as an efficient and effective custodian of growers’ export infrastructure.
“The numbers speak for themselves. CBH is financially very strong, grower loyalty and satisfaction levels are at record highs and safety incidents at record lows. CBH now turns over A$4 billion annually making it the largest cooperative and second largest private business in Australia. That is something the board, Andy and growers can be justifiably proud of.”
Crane said the board will continue to have his full commitment as they work together proactively in the coming year to deliver a smooth transition to the new CEO of CBH and ensure the ongoing focus of creating and returning value to both current and future generations of WA grain growers.
