Valent Group of Companies Appoints New Leaders

Sumitomo Chemical Company (SCC), parent company of Valent U.S.A and Valent BioSciences, has announced senior executive appointments in its family of companies.

Matt Plitt, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Valent U.S.A. since 2014, has been appointed president and CEO of Valent U.S.A., which includes subsidiaries Valent de Mexico and Valent Canada, according to a news release. Plitt joined Valent in 2010 as vice president of sales. He has a proven track record of understanding and delivering on customer expectations in the agriculture industry, serving in a variety of leadership roles of increasing responsibility.

Plitt will report to Juan Ferreira, who has been named managing executive officer of SCC and executive vice chair of Valent U.S.A. Ferreira joined Sumitomo Chemical in 2019, according to the news release.

Ferreira leads and manages the business for the Latin America region. He has served as a global advisor to SCC’s Health & Crop Sciences Sector including the Valent group of companies and now becomes the executive vice chair of the Valent U.S.A. Board of Directors. This will enable greater collaboration and innovation across North and South America. Ferreira will continue to report to Nobuaki Mito, Representative Director & Senior Managing Executive Officer (President of the Health & Crop Sciences Sector), Sumitomo Chemical.

Ted Melnik, executive vice president and COO of Valent BioSciences (VBC) has been named president and CEO of Valent BioSciences, which includes Pace International and Mycorrhizal Applications, according to the news release. He was named COO of VBC in 2013 and is leading the expansion of the global biorational business, a major focus area for Sumitomo Chemical. Melnik will continue to report to Nobuaki Mito.

Andy Lee, president and CEO of Valent U.S.A., and Valent BioSciences has been appointed president and CEO of a newly created company that will integrate and provided corporate services across the Valent group of companies, according to the news release. Lee will continue to report to Nobuaki Mito and will serve on the Board of Directors for Valent U.S.A. and VBC. Lee has served in key leadership roles in the North American agriculture industry and has led diverse teams and complex enterprise integration initiatives across the Valent group since 2011.

Valent U.S.A. LLC, headquartered in San Ramon, Calif., develops and markets products in the United States, Mexico and Canada that advance sustainable agriculture, protect crops, enhance crop yields, improve food quality, beautify the environment, and safeguard public health.

Headquartered in Libertyville, Ill., Valent BioSciences is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sumitomo Chemical, and is the worldwide leader in the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of biorational products with sales in 95 countries around the world.

Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Sumitomo Chemical is one of Japan’s leading chemical companies.