Grainswest - Spring 2019

Spring 2019 Grains West 32 FEATURE HOLLY GELECH BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, SGS BIOVISION A top Canadian seed, grain and soil tester, SGS BioVision is part of a global network providing services to the seed industry. Holly Gelech’s role with the company is to explore growth opportunities by expanding its services, recruiting customers and developing new markets for existing services. “I am encouraged that the business is always evolving and that it is very much driven by science and technology,” she said. “Those are the areas that interested me in high school, and the key drivers to my post-secondary education. There is tremendous peer engagement in our industry as well. We are not just an Alberta-based company; what happens globally impacts us. I love that there is such a global nature in what we do in the seed-testing world, as it creates opportunities for growth and new technology commercialization.” “Talk to as many people as you can to understand what they do and get their perspective about what they do and what they love about their job,” advised Gelech to those choosing a seed career path. “There are so many opportunities in seed, including business development, sales, marketing, lab work and analytics.” TODD HYRA WESTERN CANADA BUSINESS MANAGER, SECAN In high school, Todd Hyra saw a clear educational path that would lead back to his Manitoba family’s mixed-grain, cattle and hog farm. He pursued a diploma in agriculture at the University of Manitoba after Grade 12, thinking it an expedient route. However, he enjoyed the formal learning environment so much that he went on to earn a degree. While at university, a summer job with the Manitoba Department of Agriculture’s wheat division opened his eyes to off- farm opportunities. After graduating, he joined United Grain Growers as an agronomist, taking on the management of its research program at age 26. He never did return to the farm. Now, Hyra is Western Canada’s business manager for SeCan, an association of seed companies that locates genetics for seed from plant breeding institutions. It works with plant breeders who have developed and proven genetics in crops such as barley, wheat, oats and flax, to bring top- performing seed to Canadian farmers. Travelling extensively through Canada and the United States in winter, Hyra attends trade events to collect information on new products and industry developments. The season also brings meetings with farm groups