SAN FRANCISCO — Michael D. Wilbur, current CEO of the venture capital division of Wilbur-Ellis, Cavallo Ventures, Inc., has joined the company’s board of directors, effective Oct. 21.

“Mike has extensive experience and deep knowledge of our business,” said John P. Thacher, executive chairman of the Wilbur-Ellis board. “With over 20 years with the company, Mike has worked in each business division, as well as in corporate and investment roles… The depth and breadth of Mike’s experience makes him an excellent addition to our board of directors.”

Wilbur has led strategic investments at Cavallo Ventures, including the company’s acquisition of Ag Consulting Group and AgCode, investments in agricultural technology firms such as Sound Ag, Trace Genomics, Beta Hatch and Taranis.

“Being part of a family-owned business, throughout my life I have seen the tremendous growth and development of the company,” Wilbur said. “Next year we’ll begin celebrating our 100^th anniversary, and as proud as I am of our past accomplishments, I’m even more excited about the future.”

Wilbur earned a degree in economics from Boston College, then began his career at American Cyanamid, a conglomeration of US manufacturing companies. He later joined Wilbur-Ellis, starting in the Feed division (now Wilbur-Ellis Nutrition) as a forage sales representative.

Since joining Wilbur-Ellis, Wilbur has gained experience in international and domestic markets as general manager of the company’s specialty chemicals business in the Asia-Pacific region; national seed director for its Agribusiness arm; and vice president of data services and field technology, during which time he oversaw the development of AgVertict, an agronomy tool by Wilbur-Ellis.

“Today, Wilbur-Ellis is in a strong position,” Wilbur added. “We have customers who trust us and look to us to support their business. We have employees whose talent, creativity and hard work make everything we do possible.”

Wilbur added that he looks forward to “working collaboratively with the other board members to provide the passion and guidance that will position Wilbur-Ellis for the next 100 years,” by encouraging innovation and entrepreneurialism balanced with efficiency and structure.

“These strengths will drive us toward a future of growth and opportunity,” he concluded.

Read more about personnel changes throughout the industry.