Waikato sheep farmer Ross Townshend has been appointed chief executive of Wools of New Zealand.
His appointment followed the capitalisation of the company which was completed in March. It closed with more than 700 applications for shares totalling about $6 million.
While the company's objective was to raise $10 million, it achieved the minimum threshold of $5 million, allowing it to proceed with a strong wool grower-owned sales and marketing company.
Those growers who subscribed to the offer were responsible for about 14.5 million kilograms of annual strong-wool production.
After a ''rigorous'' selection process spanning several months, the board was delighted Mr Townshend had accepted the position, chairman Mark Shadbolt said.
In addition to his strong agribusiness sector credentials, he brought a global business perspective across the primary sector - from procurement and operations to supply chain and international marketing - honed through more than 10 years of senior operational roles with Rank Group companies Goodman Fielder, Bluebird Foods, Evergreen Packaging, Carter Holt Harvey and New Zealand Dairy Foods, Mr Shadbolt said.
Mr Townshend, who is a director of Tatua Co-operative Dairy Company Ltd, said he was looking forward ''to the challenge of restoring wool to a profitable enterprise that it once was and we all need it to be again''.
