AgriNovus Indiana Adds to Board
Luca Bonini and Susanne Wasson
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowAgriNovus Indiana, the state’s initiative to promote and accelerate the growth of the agbiosciences sector, has added new members to its board of directors:
• Luca Bonini (pictured), CEO of Italpollina
• Brian Emerick, board representative for the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership and CEO of MicroPulse
• Susanne Wasson (pictured), president of the Crop Protection Business Platform for Corteva Agriscience, the Agriculture Division of DowDuPont
Bonini is the third generation at the helm of this European-based family business with an expansive global reach. Operating today in more than 70 countries worldwide, with four production sites and 13 commercial offices, Italpollina’s proprietary technologies are utilized in the production of organic fertilizers, beneficial microbials, and 100 percent vegetal-based biostimulants. Most recently, Italpollina opened its first U.S. manufacturing facility in Anderson and are now adding a research and development center, Italpollina Park, there as well. Bonini graduated from Bocconi Commercial University in Milan with a degree in Business Strategy. In 2016, he was appointed “Officier du Merite Agricole” by the French Government – an honor that is of the second most important in France and given to people strongly committed to the development of agriculture.
Emerick serves on the board of the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership and will represent the organization on the AgriNovus Board. NEIRP encompasses 11 counties, including: Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wabash, Wells and Whitley. The organization’s mission is to build, market and sell Northeast Indiana to increase business investments. Emerick is a serial entrepreneur and has helped launch 10 companies through his “Orthovation” business incubator. He serves on the Board of Trustees of AgriNovus investor Huntington University. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from Indiana Wesleyan University and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame.
Wasson previously served as vice president of commercial effectiveness. she held several leadership roles with Dow AgroSciences, including the US Commercial Leader of the Crop Protection Business, Global Business Leader for the Range and Pasture and Industrial Vegetation Management Herbicide Business. She is currently on the Board of Directors of United Way of Central Indiana and is the Board Chair of Crop Life America and the National FFA Foundation Sponsors Board. Wasson earned degrees in Agricultural Economics and Accounting from Oklahoma State University, and a Master of Science in Agricultural Economics from Texas A&M University.