CalPlant, manufacturer of Eureka MDF, the world’s first no-added-formaldehyde rice straw-based medium density fiberboard (MDF), has announced the transition of Gerina Freeman into the role of chief executive officer. Freeman will take over leadership of CalPlant from Executive Chairman Jeff Wagner who will continue to support the company in his same role.
“I’m incredibly honored to have the opportunity to lead CalPlant in a new capacity as CEO,” said Freeman. “Thanks to the support of CalPlant employees, along with the executive team and board, I’m confident that we will continue to thrive as we launch into this next phase of CalPlant’s story.”
Freeman joined CalPlant three years ago and has since served as the company’s vice president of sales, marketing and logistics. Prior to joining CalPlant, she held senior leadership roles for prominent companies, including ARAUCO North America, Plum Creek Timber Co/Weyerhaeuser Co, and Pacific MDF Products. This experience has left Freeman with extensive knowledge of the MDF market as well as a proven track record for leading operational, marketing and customer engagement initiatives that drove profitable revenue growth.
“The executive team, the board of directors and myself have the utmost confidence in Gerina to lead CalPlant into our next phase,” said Wagner. “She is a passionate leader who has been in the trenches throughout her career and understands what it has taken to get us here and, more importantly, what it will take to shepherd us through to our next stage.”
CalPlant is the creator of Eureka™ medium density fiberboard (MDF), founded with the sole purpose of creating and manufacturing agrifiber-focused building products for the 21st century. The plant is located in the heart of the rice-farming community in Willows, California, and promotes environmentally conscious practices by producing Eureka from renewable post-harvest rice straw.
For more information on CalPlant and Eureka, visit eurekamdf.com.
About CalPlant
CalPlant and its predecessor company, CalAg, LLC, have spent many years researching, developing, and patenting a process to make high-quality MDF using annually renewable rice straw as the feedstock, the disposal of which has posed environmental issues in California for decades. It has worked extensively with machinery manufacturer Siempelkamp to develop a facility with production capabilities well-suited to the MDF markets the plant will be serving. CalPlant is the world’s first commercial-scale manufacturer of no-added-formaldehyde, rice straw-based MDF.
Content provided by CalPlant.
