PEKIN, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mark Beemer was recently promoted to president and CEO of Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings Inc., Pekin, Illinois. He joined the company as acting president in 2012, with responsibilities encompassing corporate turnaround and leadership, strategic planning, capital expenditures, and implementing revenue initiatives through commodity risk management and disciplined financial management.
Aventine is a $600 million company currently operating the 160-million-gallon wet mill and dry mill plants in Pekin and the Vogelbusch 45-million-gallon Nebraska Energy LLC plant and the 110-million-gallon Aventine Aurora West Delta T plant in Aurora, Nebraska.
A 25-year veteran of the grain and agriculture processing industry, Beemer has built a reputation and track record as a turnaround manager and C-suite business consultant. Recently he has consulted extensively with AlixPartners on the VeraSun bankruptcy and international ventures.
Beemer launched his career in commodity trading as a Chicago Board of Trade runner while earning his bachelor’s degree in agriculture from Purdue University with continued graduate work at the University of Chicago. In 1988 he joined Louis Dreyfus Corp., Wilton, Connecticut, and through that company’s 1993 joint venture moved to Archer Daniels Midland Co., Decatur, Illinois, as manager of corn and soybean merchandising.
During 13 years with ADM Beemer assumed key management roles, including serving as assistant vice president of corporate transportation and vice president of strategic planning, transportation and operations for ADM’s joint venture with Farmland’s grain division.
Beemer joined Penford Products Co., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 2005 as vice president of commodities. In 2006 he founded Alternative Energy Sources Inc., completing development of two 100-million-gallon ethanol plant sites.
In 2010 he was chief commercial officer of Osage Bio Energy, Richmond, Virginia, and served on the board of Hawkeye Renewables, Ames, Iowa. He was president of ethanol at R3 Fusion, Albany, New York (2011-12).
About Aventine
Aventine Renewable Energy, Pekin, Illinois, is a leading producer and marketer of industrial and fuel ethanol and related byproducts, bioproducts and coproducts, including corn gluten feed and meal, corn germ, condensed corn distillers solubles, dried distillers grain with solubles and wet distillers grain with solubles, corn oils and yeast.
