Agriculture

Mordecai Evans - President, Human Capital Management Services

In his current role as President/CEO of HCMS, Mordecai assists organizations by providing job specific, state-of-the art assessment tools that enable them to select the right candidates for employment. These instruments are also used to effectively develop and retain existing employees. He founded HCMS because of his passion for helping organizations increase profitability through effectively managing the productivity of their employees. He operates within the concept that an organization is only as good as its employees. Therefore, it is essential not only for organizations to hire the right people for the right positions, but also to effectively manage, motivate, and coach each individual to success.

Mordecai L. Evans obtained his B.S. in Animal Science from Clemson University in 1996. He then moved to Exton, PA to serve as a Swine/Bovine Marketing Associate with Pfizer, Inc. in their Animal Health Division for over a year. He was then promoted to Associate Territory Manager for the Cattle Division and moved to Sioux Falls, SD, where he served for 3 years. Following this, he was promoted to Territory Manager for the Companion Animal Division in the Augusta and Atlanta, Georgia areas. After two years of service in this capacity, he left Pfizer, Inc. and founded HCMS. Because of his time spent in several different divisions at Pfizer, Mordecai has gained a broad understanding of the Animal Health industry. He also excelled as a salesperson, being ranked amongst the top sales people in the company. Mordecai is currently working toward his Masters in Management with a concentration in Organizational Behavior.

Edward Romero— Assistant Dean, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Texas A&M University

In his current position, Edward works with young people by addressing diversity recruitment, retention and student development at Texas A&M University. He also provides academic advising to students in the College and is a student organization advisor to Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS), Texas A&M Chapter. In addition to his busy schedule, Edward also finds time to teach during the fall semester and assists the Agriculture Program Development Office in their diversity fundraising efforts. The National organization recently awarded the Texas A&M University MANRRS Chapter with the prestigious 2003 National Chapter of the Year award. In addition, the Chapter was also recognized by the University and was awarded the 2003 Texas A&M University Student Organization Enhancing Diversity Award. The MANRRS chapter is one of over 800 student organizations on the TAMU campus eligible for the award.

In 1990, Edward received a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Business and a Master of Arts in Agricultural and Extension Education from New Mexico State University in 1991. Following graduation, he worked on special projects with the New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture and in 1992, accepted an appointment as Program Coordinator for the College of Agriculture and Home Economics at New Mexico State University. In 1995, the Edward W. Romero Insurance Agency was created in collaboration with Farm Bureau and its affiliated companies, by providing insurance and financial services to clients. As Associate Manager in 1999, Edward assisted agents in creating and managing their businesses in Northeastern New Mexico. In 2002, Edward was a cluster facilitator at the National Leadershape Institute at the University of Illinois Conference Center at Allerton Park, near Champaign, Illinois. The Leadershape Institute is designed to help young people “lead with integrity.” In addition to his many accomplishments, he was recently recognized as Advisor of the Year, by the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement, a non-profit organization from Chicago, Illinois.

Edward is originally from New Mexico and is married to Margaret Allen-Romero. The Romero’s have a beautiful six year-old daughter and he and his family reside in Bryan, Texas. Currently, Edward is also pursuing a Ph.D. in the Agricultural Education Department at Texas A&M University.

Kay Stinson

With over 14 years of experience in the swine industry in both production and operations management, for the last 4 years Kay has been the Director of Production for Seaboard Farms Inc., the third largest swine producer in the country. The production staffing at Seaboard totals 1355 and covers 3 geographic regions, NE Colorado, SW Kansas and the Oklahoma Panhandle, and central Oklahoma.

A graduate of Kansas State University with a BS in Animal Science, Kay initially began her career with Murphy Family Farms where for 10 years she gained experience in the area of production as well as developing and managing the training, recruiting and human resources for the Midwest expansion in the early to mid 90’s. The last 2 years at Murphy Family Farms Kay held the role of operation manager for the High Plains business which employed a staff of 180.

Throughout her career Kay has used her knowledge and experience to recruit and develop strong production management teams and build processes and programs to ensure good bench talent for promotion from within.

Eric Spell | President, AgCareers

With more than 15 years experience in agribusiness recruiting and employment services, Eric Spell has the proven skills to serve as president of AgCareers. Eric was most recently president/CEO of Jobhog.net, a confidential resume hosting and job posting on-line career site he founded in 2001 for agriculture, food, biotechnology, natural resources and life sciences sectors. Jobhog and AgCareers combined efforts in January 2004. Eric has a B.A. degree in business management from North Carolina State University with a concentration in labor/personnel. While employed with Murphy Farms Inc., as director of recruiting and training, Eric led efforts resulting in over 800 professionals being placed throughout the Midwest and Southeast. After working eight years at Murphy Farms, he founded Potential Solutions Inc., a company providing human resources and training services to the agribusiness sector. His recruiting strategies implemented with flagship agribusiness employers led to his vision for Jobhog. Eric's passion, knowledge and commitment to e-recruiting and online career resources, make him the ideal leader of agriculture's largest online source for jobs and employment services.