New employee owners

Jessica Engel recently joined the Vita Plus team as a dairy specialist. She will be serving dairy producers in eastern and central Wisconsin. In her role, Engel will develop high-quality diet formulations, provide management expertise, and offer effective solutions to help producers solve problems and meet their goals.

Bruce Meier recently joined the Vita Plus team as a quality assurance specialist. In this role, Meier will ensure all manufactured products meet quality expectations, and regulatory, company, and customer specifications.

Les Lee recently joined the Loyal Ingredients team as a senior merchandiser. In this key leadership role, he will support customers’ grain and feed ingredient needs and assist in creating and executing merchandising plans for various commodities.

Grace Praisler recently joined the Vita Plus team as a dairy specialist. Praisler will work closely with the Vita Plus eastern region team to serve dairy producers in the western Ohio, eastern Indiana and southeastern Michigan market area.

Chloe Hagen, Ph.D., recently joined the Vita Plus team as a swine nutritionist and technical salesperson. Hagen will primarily focus on serving swine producers in the Illinois and Wisconsin market area.

Ron Kerkhoff recently joined the Vita Plus team as the general manager of the Madison, Wisconsin, plant and wholesale distribution networks in Madison, Wisconsin, Central City, Iowa, and Fairmont, Minnesota. He will have the responsibility of overseeing teams in feed manufacturing, distribution and warehousing.

Aric Dieter recently joined Vita Plus as the vice president of manufacturing and transportation. This leadership role focuses on leveraging the Vita Plus network to continue providing value for our customers while accelerating our growth throughout the Midwest and beyond.

Joe Kloehn was recently named the operations manager of Vita Plus Columbus in Columbus, Wisconsin. He will also lead the team at Vita Plus Fall River in Fall River, Wisconsin. He will be providing leadership in production, transportation and safety.

Pedro Mendoza was recently named the general manager of Vita Plus Loyal in Loyal, Wisconsin. Mendoza will lead the Loyal feed manufacturing and grain merchandising teams focused on serving customers throughout central Wisconsin. Mendoza will maintain a high-level of quality production and safe practices while being a steward and agricultural advocate within the local community.

Makenzie Hereth and Sara Skalitzky are the newest additions to the marketing team at Vita Plus in Madison, Wisconsin. In their roles, they will be key members of the marketing team and contribute to various communication and marketing efforts. Their focus will be on serving customers and assisting consultants offering technical expertise to producers.

Justin Stadelman recently joined Vita Plus as director of finance.  He will be a key member of the Vita Plus financial management team working closely with senior management and accounting staff, responsible for managing and leading financial initiatives that improve reporting systems, policies, procedures, and financial results. 

Keith Kulow was recently named the general manager of Vita Plus Lake Mills in Lake Mills, Wisconsin.  He will be providing leadership of the feed manufacturing and grain merchandising focused on serving customers throughout the local market area.  Kulow will maintain a high-level of quality production, maintaining safety and production standards while being a steward and agricultural advocate within the local community.

Steven Thomas recently joined Agri-Business Consultants, LLC (ABC) as the dairy business services manager.  He will lead the team dedicated to reporting and analyzing business analytics for dairy producers throughout the Midwest while assisting them with feasibility studies, start-up business and succession planning.  He will also contribute to Vita Plus educational and business consulting strategies.

Dustin Millard recently joined Vita Plus as the general manager of Loyal Ingredients LLC in Loyal, Wisconsin.  He will be providing leadership of the commodities brokerage team in all capacities and focus on serving customers through merchandising plans, market analysis and on-site discussions with customers.

Tommie Loken recently joined Vita Plus as a livestock specialist. Loken will work closely with the Vita Plus Dodgeville and Spensley Feed Sales teams to serve beef and dairy producers throughout southwest Wisconsin. She will help producers select the nutrition strategies and products that best fit their unique farms and situations to achieve their production goals.

Brandon Van Soest, Ph.D., recently joined Vita Plus as a dairy technical specialist. He will be based in northwestern Indiana, providing technical expertise and primary nutritional responsibilities to help producers have the most success within their milking herd.