Rick Melnick, Managing Partner and Chief Operating Officer, has 30+ years of experience in global commercial agriculture with expertise in biopesticides, biostimulants, crop protection, branding and marketing strategy, product development, and strategic marketing communications. Rick spent the first 16 years of his career at Meister Media Worldwide with responsibility for such titles as CropLife Magazine, FRUIT and VEGETABLE GROWER Magazines, and the annual Farm Chemicals Handbook. He was named to the Biological Products Industry Alliance Board of Directors in 2008, and served as BPIA Chairman from 2013 to 2019. He was also a founding member of BioProtection Global, serving as president in 2017. In 2011, left his position as Corporate Editorial Director at Meister Media to joined Valent BioSciences as Director of Branding and Communications where he led corporate branding initiatives and content and marketing campaign development serving VBC and Sumitomo Chemical Company’s biorational crop protection, PGR, public health, and forest health businesses. In 2019, Rick joined DunhamTrimmer as a Partner and Chief Operating Officer upon the retirement of DT's co-founder, and former BPIA Board member, Bill Dunham. He now works exclusively in the biologicals sector with DunhamTrimmer clients around the world.