INDUSTRY good body Grains Australia has appointed experienced grains industry executive Richard Simonaitis as its new chief executive, replacing Jonathon Wilson, who left the fledgling organisation in January, in the role.
Grains Australia was officially launched in 2020 to provide industry good functions across the market access, classification, market information and market education spaces.
Prior to taking on the Grains Australia role Mr Simonaitis had been the leader of the Australian Export Grain Innovation Centre.
The Grains Australia board was delighted with the appointment.
"Richard's experience in market insight and analysis, innovation and education align with the core functions of Grains Australia, in addition to his significant accomplishments in the broader grain industry" said Terry Enright, Grains Australia chair.
He said Mr Simonaitis would play a critical role in bedding down the board's vision for the organisation.
"Grains Australia's vision is to be the leader in delivering industry good services that add value to the Australian grains industry, and we are confident Richard will make significant progress in helping achieve this goal," Mr Enright said.
Mr Simonaitis will officially take on his new role in November, when he will replace Andrew Young, who has been in the role on an interim basis since Mr Wilson left early this year.
"I am looking forward to the opportunity to work closely with the Grains Australia team and board to build on its achievements to date and improve connectivity across the value chain and industry," Mr Simonaitis said.
He said the role represented a great chance to develop frameworks that would benefit the Aussie grains industry as a whole.
"I was attracted to this role because of the opportunity to take a collaborative approach to working closely with organisations across the Australian grains industry, in order to deliver services that benefit the whole of the industry," he said.
Mr Enright thanked Mr Young for his efforts stepping up into the top job.
"Andrew has made significant contributions to Grains Australia during his time as interim chief executive, most notably building the Grains Australia executive team, managing the integration of Wheat Quality Australia and the merger of Barley Australia, establishing the Grains Australia Wheat Council and developing the organisation's Strategic Plan to 2024/25," said Mr Enright.
"He has created momentum that Richard can build on to ensure Grains Australia delivers on its objectives, I welcome Andrew back to his previous role as director on the Board of Grains Australia and look forward to continuing to work closely with him."
The news of the appointment was well received within the industry.
"On behalf of the Grain Growers team, I sincerely congratulate Richard on his appointment as chief executive of Grains Australia," said Brett Hosking, Grain Growers chair.
"Richard has done an incredible job leading the team during his time at AEGIC," Mr Hosking said.
"GrainGrowers has worked with AEGIC on a number of initiatives for growers and we look forward to extending this collaborative way of work in Richard's new appointment."
Ron Storey, chair at AEGIC, Mr Simonaitis' former employer, also spoke glowingly about the appointment.
"AEGIC is proud that such an outstanding person as Richard will take on this significant role for the industry, after leading AEGIC for the last six years," Mr Storey said.
"Richard has cemented key industry services within AEGIC and I have no doubt he will lead new growth for the industry at Grains Australia," he said.
Mr Storey said AEGIC would continue to work closely with Grains Australia in supporting the classification and market access arms of the organisation.
"We are in the process of finalising our service arrangements with Grains Australia to support their classification and market access pillars and I look forward to providing more detail on that in coming weeks.