INTERNATIONAL MARKETING AT BEHLEN Maroulis appointed as new International Ag Sales Manager by Lyle Burbach

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING AT BEHLEN Maroulis appointed as new International Ag Sales Manager by Lyle Burbach
International Marketing has been a key component of business strategy at Behlen for many years. We operate in an increasingly global and technologically-advanced environment. This rapid change is being accelerated as a result of the digital revolution which is changing everyone's concept of space and time. As the internet becomes more accessible to people around the world, our marketplace will continue to “shrink” as our prospects and customers are truly only a "mouse-click" away. Behlen's entry into international markets dates back to the early 1950's when it was awarded a Navy defense contract, totaling almost a million dollars, to manufacture welded-wire anti-aircraft ammunition containers. In the 1960's, Behlen established a distributor for its agricultural products in the United Kingdom, sold and manufactured metal buildings in Italy, and developed a proprietary metal stitching press which continues to be an important product line today. From the agricultural perspective, the dynamics that characterize today's export markets are a continuing evolution. This evolution reflects changes in society - globalization of markets and culture, as well as advances in information and technologies (including biological). These trends reflect today's realities and are leading to a fundamental restructuring of the food system and a much different business environment for food and agriculture in the future. How the above changes are affecting agricultural markets here in the U.S. can best be illustrated by the following statistic: While U.S. agricultural production has doubled in the last 50 years, farm numbers have decreased by more than two-thirds. Through concentration and consolidation of resources, most of today's food and fiber output is produced by only 150,000 American farmers! From a world viewpoint, food self-sufficiency continues to be a very high priority for many countries. Having an adequate and stable food supply is a baseline for maintaining a satisfied, productive population. This strategic objective is supported by the fact that average world food and agricultural import tariffs are much higher than tariffs on manufactured goods.
With more than 96% of world consumers living outside the U.S., it is important to reach those markets where growth will be most rapid. The Behlen International Ag Business Unit is addressing the above issues with an increased emphasis on searching out these growth markets. To lead this effort, Mr. Gerry Maroulis was recently named to the position of International Sales Manager for the International Ag Group. His primary responsibility will be to develop and coordinate our ag export activities. Gerry has extensive experience in our industry with a total of 14 years in the grain system and feedmilling industries. He is fluent in Spanish, English, and Greek. His work experience has taken him throughout Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. He holds Bachelor of Science and Graduate Management Degrees from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Gerry, his wife Jovana, and two daughters live in Weston, FL. We look forward to leveraging Gerry's expertise to grow our business in a very dynamic and competitive marketplace.	Gerry Maroulis & Lyle Burbach