What led you to this role with Kemin?

I got my Ph.D. because I enjoy doing research and that environment. (Ten years after launching Blue Sky Creamery), it got to the point where the technology development kind of ran its course, and it was really running on its own. My role had changed from being on the technical side to the business side, which I enjoyed, but I felt further and further away from the reason I went to grad school and got into science.

Tell me about the team you lead.

I have 10 people in the United States, all of whom are in Des Moines, three in Europe, three in India and two in Singapore, soon to be more. We have our research scientists who interact on a regular basis on new projects and new-discovery research. Kemin also has customer laboratory services, and they’re more (involved) in product application where a customer may want to extend their shelf life with an antioxidant. We’ll do the testing for them for free to help them determine which one of ours is the best application. I really like that side of it, too, because I’m very pragmatic.

Will you be traveling a lot overseas?

Yes, in fact in the four months I’ve been here, I’ve logged trips to Europe, China, India and Singapore. Part of the strategy we came up with when I came on board was that I needed to get to these areas right away to understand their processes to develop products that meet their needs.

What are the newest directions research is taking at Kemin?

The general trend in food ingredients is clearly (toward) natural; I don’t think anybody’s going to be surprised by that. We understand what the natural ingredients are (in the rosemary extract used for Kemin Foods’ products) and because of that in-depth understanding, we can apply it in the best ways. So just like with rosemary, we’re always on the lookout for the next ingredient to put in our tool box. Our research goals are to look for new molecules that can act as an antioxidant and antimicrobials and their natural sources, and make sure there is a viable market for it.

What challenges will shifting from a small company to a global business present for you?

Moving to this role, I can really focus on the part that I enjoy. I actually travel less than I used to, which is nice. What’s interesting is, because we’re an international company, if we have an executive meeting, 7 a.m.’s the time, and that’s even slightly inconvenient for the people in China because it’s 8 p.m. there. … We got the good end of that deal.

How’s business for Blue Sky Creamery?

We scaled back; I knew there was no way that we could run as hard as we did with me not there. T.J. Paskach, my business partner, actually is working in bioenergy, so neither of us was going to be there full time. We have seven franchisees in our system doing concessions. Our original goal was to have 50 to 100 franchisees across the country. But at the end of the day, whether I have 50 that are in 50 states or 10 that are in 50 states, it doesn’t matter to me. The growth will be through these franchisees.

What does your wife do?

She actually was a process engineer at 3M (Corp.) in Ames. But (after our first child was born) something had to give and so she decided to stay at home, which is good, because otherwise we probably would have had a 24-hour nanny.

What are your favorite things outside the office?

We have an 8- and 6-year-old, so they dominate most of my time. I like woodworking, doing construction around the house. I used to do microbrewing, but I haven’t brewed since I started Blue Sky, so I guess I can’t say that’s a hobby anymore.