June 17, 2008

Jim Hoyt Replaces Vern McGinnis on ACDI/VOCA Board

Jim Hoyt of Bloomington, Illinois, replaced Vern McGinnis as GROWMARK’s representative on the board of directors of ACDI/VOCA, the Washington, D.C. international development organization. McGinnis retired from GROWMARK last year, but continued to serve on the ACDI/VOCA board as its chairman until the organization’s annual meeting June 17, when the transition took place.

Hoyt, who serves as vice president, strategic planning and corporate services for GROWMARK, directs the strategic planning process and oversees communications, marketing, HR, government affairs and flight operations. His GROWMARK career began in 1971.

He previously served on the board and executive committee of the Canadian Co-operative Association and its Cooperative Development Foundation, and is a recipient of the CCA’s Cooperative Spirit Award. Under a CDF volunteer assignment, he helped form women’s credit unions in Uganda, and in four ACDI/VOCA volunteer stints he assisted agricultural businesses in Poland to restructure as co-ops shortly after the fall of the Iron Curtain.

GROWMARK, or an antecedent of the company, has been a member of ACDI/VOCA since the firm was founded in 1973 in Illinois.