Main Street Ingredients, a leading manufacturer of food ingredients promoted Rob Hollnagel, Jr., to sales manager, contract manufacturing group. Hollnagel has played a key role in growing the sales of food ingredients and most recently, private-label nutritional beverages.

In addition, Main Street is excited to revise the structure of the sales group. Homewood now leads the ingredient distribution group, the contract manufacturing group and the branded ingredients group. Main Street’s branded products include Keystone™ stabilizers, Cornerstone™ proteins, Capstone™ dairy, and Gemstone™ bakery ingredients.

The Health and Nutrition Group which consists of sports nutrition and health & wellness will continue to function under the leadership of Aaron Macha, vice president of sales, who oversees the entire sales group.

Swiss researcher Alexandra Teleki won the first prize in the DSM Science & Technology Awards (South) 2009. An international judging committee, chaired by Dr. Manfred Eggersdorfer, R&D director at DSM Nutritional Products, selected Alexandra Teleki, who obtained her doctorate from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zurich, Switzerland, for her Ph.D. in research on the production and application of coated nanoparticles.

Alexandra Teleki has succeeded in developing a highly reproducible method for the simplified production of structured nanoparticles. Structured nanoparticles are expected to play a major role in enabling sustainable routes to materials production. Teleki was presented with the award Tuesday, June 23, at a festive awards event at Park Hotel Vitznau, Switzerland. As the winner of the first prize she will also receive a cash prize of EUR 10,000.

BLOOMINGDALE, Ill.—NOW Foods founder Elwood Richard is one of 31 finalists for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year award in the U.S. Midwest, which honors entrepreneurs whose ingenuity, hard work and perseverance have created and sustained successful, growing business ventures.

“We are very pleased that our founder has been recognized as one of the premier entrepreneurs in the Midwest,” said NOW president Al Powers. “His vision has guided the growth of a company that is not only very successful by conventional business standards, but has also maintained its social commitments by giving back to the world community and making better health affordable to as many people as possible.”

Independent judging panels are established in each country to select the finalists and winners from the nominations received. Criteria include: entrepreneurial spirit, financial performance, strategic direction, community/global impact, innovation, and personal integrity/influence.

The E & Y USA 2009 winner will be announced at a black-tie award ceremony at the Hilton Chicago Hotel on June 26th.

GREENFIELD, Mass.—Julia Sabin of Smucker Natural Foods Inc. was reelected by the Organic Trade Association’s (OTA) Board of Directors to continue as its president for the coming year.

WASHINGTON—David R. Seckman, the Natural Products Association’s executive director and CEO resigned. He is leaving to head the Food Processing Suppliers Association in McLean, Va. Seckman will stay with NPA through July of this year.

“In the nine years that David has been with the association, he has made significant contributions that leave us in an excellent position to continue to meet member needs well into the future,” said Debra Short, president of the Natural Products Association. “David will be missed, but due to his efforts we are stronger as an association than we have ever been.”

Short announced that a search committee is being formed to work with an executive recruitment firm to find Seckman’s successor.

Microbia Inc. (formerly Microbia Precision Engineering) appointed Alex Chu, Ph.D., as vice president of process development. Dr. Chu’s responsibilities will include directing all process development activities from laboratories to commercial manufacturing, including the launch of Microbia’s pipeline of naturally derived carotenoids for the human and animal food ingredient and nutritional supplement markets.

Dr. Chu was most recently the vice president of manufacturing and process development at Adnexus Therapeutics, Bristol-Myers Squibb. Prior to this, he held multiple scientific and management positions at Abbot Laboratories and Abbott BioResearch Center, including director of manufacturing program management and director, process development, Pharma. Alex earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from National Taiwan University and a Ph.D. in biochemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The Organic Trade Association (OTA) named the recipients of its Organic Leadership Awards: Canadian organic advocate Paddy Doherty of British Columbia; and America's first and most influential organic rice growing family, Eldon, Wendell, Harlan and Homer Lundberg of California.

The 2009 Organic Leadership Award recipients will be honored at the OTA Annual Dinner and Dance on Wednesday, June 17, during the All Things Organic™ Conference and Trade Show in Chicago. The award trophy, a hand-blown glass "inhabited planet" by artist Josh Simpson, has been presented since 1997, when Sen. Patrick Leahy was the recipient.