Donald Glidewell Joins Marrone Bio Innovations as Chief Financial Officer

DAVIS, Calif., April 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Marrone Bio Innovations (MBI) today announces the hiring of Donald J. Glidewell, CPA, as Chief Financial Officer.

Mr. Glidewell comes to MBI from Valent USA Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd., which develops and markets agricultural, professional and consumer pest management products. As Sr. Director of Finance he was responsible for corporate finance including consolidation of subsidiaries in multiple countries, providing shared services to the consolidated group and financial analysis to support acquisitions and divestitures.  

"I'm thrilled to be part of the MBI team and to be working with Pam Marrone again," said Glidewell.  "You don't refer to biopesticides without thinking of Pam Marrone."  While CFO of AgraQuest, Inc., and with then CEO and Founder Marrone, he raised $60 million in venture financing and negotiated, purchased and led the operational startup of the company's fermentation facility in Tlaxcala, Mexico.  He was with the company from pre-revenue stage through its bid to go public, which was thwarted by the terrorist events of 9-11.

Prior to this, as its CFO, Mr. Glidewell completed the sale of Bio-Trends International to Intervet, Inc., an Akzo-Nobel Company.  Mr. Glidewell holds an active California Certified Public Accountant license and has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration/Accounting from Arizona State University.

"I am delighted to be working once again with Don," said Pam Marrone, Founder and CEO. "We experienced all stages of a start-up together and it's great to have his deep financial and manufacturing operations background as MBI enters an expansion stage."

Julie Morris, MBI's Founding CFO, is excited to move to a new position within the company after spending five years building the company's finance and operations infrastructure. She is the company's first employee, as well as a founding investor. With Pam Marrone, she led three rounds of venture capital and debt financing. Now, as VP of Corporate Development and Operations, she will lead MBI's operations function, and guide a number of strategic initiatives to fruition.

To further support MBI's sales and product portfolio expansion, the company recently hired Kent Sproat as VP of Manufacturing.  Kent brings proven leadership from multiple biotechnology facilities, as well as technology transfer experience from R&D to commercialization, process development, and optimization of plants and processes, including ex-US operations.  He's held a number of executive manufacturing positions at companies such as Dyadic International, Inc. and Genencor International, Inc. Kent holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University.

About Marrone Bio Innovations

Marrone Bio Innovations (MBI) discovers, develops and markets effective and environmentally responsible natural products that fill unmet needs for weed, plant disease and pest management. MBI's effective and safe products come from a combination of in-licensed technology and its own discovery. The company's own R&D finds naturally occurring microorganisms from unique habitats and develops them into pest management products. MBI has an impressive pipeline of new products waiting approval at the EPA, including two insecticides, two herbicides and Zequanox™, a product for controlling invasive zebra and quagga mussels in fresh waterways. MBI has several new nematicide, insecticide, fungicide and herbicide candidates from its discovery screen.  In addition to its award-winning Regalia® Biofungicide, MBI currently markets GreenMatch®Burndown Herbicide for weed control in organic crop production.  For more information about Marrone Bio Innovations, please go to www.marronebio.com

SOURCE Marrone Bio Innovations