Leadership Change at CountryMark
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndianapolis-based CountryMark has named the replacement for Chief Executive Officer and President Charlie Smith, who has announced his retirement from the fuel producer and agricultural cooperative.
The CountryMark Board of Directors named Matt Smorch as the new president and CEO effective January 1.
Smorch joined the company in 2001, working at its refinery in Mt. Vernon, Indiana. He’s held several positions during his climb throughout the company.
In June 2018, Smorch was named vice president of refining and logistics.
“We have great people, our assets are in good shape and our balance sheet is strong,” said Smorch. “No matter what the future brings, we have the right people in place who follow our values including excellence, improvement, innovation, integrity, and reliability to keep the company financially strong and fundamentally caring for our employees, customers and the cooperative system.”
Current CEO Charlie Smith will retire from CountryMark in December, a position he’s held for 17 years. CountryMark says Smith, as an oil company engineer, traveled to 37 countries on five continents before getting hired as CEO.
Smorch says the company under Smith has been able to invest more than $750 million into the business. Production capacity has also grown from 20,000 barrels per day to 30,000 barrels a day.
“I believed that with the right people focused on safety, reliability and capacity improvements, that big things were possible for this small refining and logistics company,” said Smith. “We’ve been able to do things that nobody thought we could.”