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Former Southern States Cooperative Executive Joins GROWERS As Chief Operating Officer

DURHAM, N.C. January 3, 2024 – GROWERS, a leading provider of agriculture technology to farmers and agricultural retailers, is delighted to announce the appointment of Steven Harrelson as its Chief Operating Officer. Harrelson, a seasoned professional with extensive experience in agriculture retail, and formerly the Agronomy Team Lead at Southern States Cooperative, brings a unique perspective to GROWERS. In his new role, Harrelson will leverage his experience in agriculture retail to drive sales, further the commercialization of the GROWERS platform, and enhance the end-to-end customer experience.

Throughout his career, Harrelson has been involved in nearly every aspect of agriculture retail, including leading agronomy, energy, and feed product line sales teams and managing agronomy input procurement with manufacturers and distributors up and down the supply chain. His deep understanding of the challenges retailers and farmers face positions him strategically to enhance GROWERS’ value proposition and bring the retailer’s perspective into the company’s solutions.

GROWERS is a platform that first and foremost helps farmers run better businesses by providing tools to help them embrace technology to organize their farm input transactions while maintaining the farmer-retailer relationship that is so important to the agriculture industry. The platform has experienced substantial interest and adoption by both farmers and retailers, providing an opportunity for Harrelson to join the team, lead growth, and manage sales and customer experience initiatives. 

“We’re excited to welcome Steven Harrelson to GROWERS as our Chief Operating Officer and look forward to leveraging his extensive experience in agriculture retail and deep industry relationships,” said Steven Valencsin, CEO of GROWERS. “Steven’s leadership will be instrumental in refining our offering and approach to meet the evolving needs of both farmers and retailers. His leadership will strengthen our ability to deliver innovative technology and enhance how farmers and retailers do business together.”

In his role, Harrelson will lead the company’s sales and commercial initiatives. Additionally, he’ll be overseeing the company’s operational activities to help manage the recent growth GROWERS has seen. His emphasis on optimizing the customer experience will help fortify and strengthen GROWERS’ customer relationships.

“The technology and the approach GROWERS has taken to help retailers and manufacturers better serve farmers is truly unique. GROWERS is enabling the industry to serve the farmers of tomorrow, and they’ve done it in a way that enhances, not disrupts, the farmer and retailer relationship,” said Harrelson. “What excites me the most about joining the GROWERS team is their alignment around a vision of supporting farmers and enhancing relationships. They have built the foundation for making this vision a reality, and I am thrilled to join a team so dedicated to moving the agricultural industry forward in a way that will benefit everyone in the ecosystem.”

To learn more about GROWERS and its technology offerings, visit www.growers.ag.

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