Chuck Magro has been CEO of Indianapolis-based Corteva Agriscience, a maker of agricultural seeds, insecticides and herbicides, since November 2021. He serves on the boards of CropLife International, the Business Roundtable, the IMAGINE Food Collective, Ingredion, and the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership. Before joining Corteva, Magro was president and CEO of Nutrien, from when it launched in 2018 until April 2021. He had been president and CEO of Agrium previously; it merged with Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan to create Nutrien.
Archives: Profiles
Randy Kron
Randy Kron started farming in the 1980s by raising yellow corn, white corn, soybeans and wheat near Evansville. His first involvement in the Farm Bureau was as a young farmer representative on the county board. Now he’s been president of the Indiana Farm Bureau for eight years after serving as vice president for 14 years. This year, the organization set up a task force to examine what’s driving a farmer’s tax burden. Kron also serves on the board of the Indiana Grain Indemnity Corp.
Something to change about Indiana: “The importance of high-speed internet down to the last acre to help families, farms and businesses function. According to the 2022 Ag Census, 28% of farms in Indiana don’t have reliable broadband.”
Worries about: “That the general public may not understand agriculture and the importance of farmers. Most people probably don’t realize what goes into growing the food that they purchase at the grocery store.”
Jeffrey Harrison
Jeffrey Harrison is president and CEO of Citizens Energy Group, the locally owned utility that provides natural gas, thermal energy, water and wastewater services to more than 800,000 customers in the Indianapolis area. Harrison has held the top spot at Citizens Energy Group since 2015 and has worked at the utility for 20 years. The company is in the midst of a project that began last year to replace customer-owned lead service lines in conjunction with the Indianapolis Department of Public Works. Harrison also serves on the boards of a host of Indiana organizations, including Goodwill of Central and Southern Indiana, the Indianapolis Urban League, Marian University, Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and United Way of Central Indiana.
Something surprising: “I am an introvert.”
Most admired: “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He believed in equality for all and died for his belief.”
Lawrence "Sonny" Beck
Since joining Beck’s Hybrids in 1964, CEO Sonny Beck has been involved in every part of the business. Under his leadership, Beck’s Hybrids has become the largest family-owned retail seed company and the third-largest seed brand in the United States, serving farmers in 15 states throughout the Midwest and mid-South. He has served on the Purdue University board of trustees since 2013. He also helped start the Indiana Corn Growers Association and the Indiana Ag Advisory Board. He also serves on the Indiana Chamber board. Beck has held a variety of other leadership positions within the agriculture industry, including president of the American Seed Trade Association, president of the Indiana Crop Improvement Association, a charter member of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture Advisory Board, and a member of the Purdue Agriculture Dean’s Advisory Council.
Chuck Surack
Chuck Surack founded Sweetwater Sound in 1979 as a four-track recording studio in the back of his Volkswagen bus. Surack sold a controlling stake of the $1.6 billion Sweetwater Sound in 2021 to Providence Equity Partners. Today, he focuses on Surack Enterprises, the holding company for his other enterprises, which include SweetCars, Aviation Specialty Insurance, Enstrom Helicopter Corp., Lakeland Internet, Longe Optical and Sweet Aviation. Surack and his wife, Lisa, started the Surack Family Foundation, which annually donates to about 600 charities, many in northeastern Indiana. In May, he joined the Indy Eleven soccer team as a co-owner and financier as franchise officials work to secure a Major League Soccer club for Indianapolis. Surack plays saxophone in venues around northeastern Indiana and is an avid helicopter pilot.
Favorite thing about being a leader: “I love making a positive impact and to make a positive difference in the lives of others and in their organizations or communities. We can inspire and motivate individuals, guide them towards common goals, and create a sense of purpose and direction.”
Ken Zagzebski
Ken Zagzebski returned in August to the top job at the Indianapolis utility, where he served as CEO from 2011 to 2014 and as interim CEO from July 2015 to June 2016 when the company was known as Indianapolis Power & Light. AES serves about 500,000 customers in central Indiana. In recent years, he’s focused on the construction of two combined cycle gas turbines in southern California.
Job swap: “I would be a head high school football coach. I love the strategy of the game and the ability to work with students in developing life-long values and memories.”
Toughest challenge: “I was a walk-on for the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire’s football team. My first year, I was the 12th of 12 fullbacks on the depth chart. I ended up starting on the varsity team, earning three letters.”
Jeff Simmons
Jeff Simmons has been president and CEO of Elanco Animal Health since the public company completed its spinoff from Eli Lilly and Co. in 2019—but he was leading Elanco for Lilly for more than a decade even before that. In 2020, Simmons announced Elanco would build a $100 million headquarters campus at the former GM stamping plant in downtown Indianapolis. This year, the company sold its aqua business line to Merck Animal Health and announced it is developing a shared-use facility with Purdue in downtown Indianapolis.
Advice for a young person: “Leaders are at all levels at Elanco. There are four powerful words that can change everything: What if? Why not? Ask these as often as possible. Ask them to yourself and those around you—and watch the impact. Small groups using these four powerful words have changed Elanco and our people for the better.”
Pets: “As I’ve transitioned to having grown kids out on their own, our beloved labs, Lilly and Laken, keep our home feeling full and active and are a No. 1 reason for our kids to come visit.”
Paul Mitchell
As founding president and CEO of Energy Systems Network, Paul Mitchell leads the Indiana not-for-profit that helps accelerate the development and commercialization of advanced energy and transportation technologies, such as autonomous vehicles, smart grids and hydrogen power. The consortium of businesses and institutions, such as Duke Energy and Purdue University, has incubated and launched more than $1 billion in joint ventures, multi-company partnerships and startups. Mitchell also serves as chair and president of Indy Autonomous Challenge Inc., which organizes fully autonomous racing competitions among global research university teams.
Favorite thing about being a leader: “The freedom to seek out [a] big challenge and then seek technologies and build coalitions of people to solve them.”
Leadership lesson: “Plan for 3-5 years out—that’s the sweet spot for solving worthwhile problems.”
Worries about: “That the U.S. won’t produce enough energy to support the 21st Century re-industrialization and power AI. And that China will.”
Bryan Brenner
Bryan Brenner founded FirstPerson Advisors, an Indianapolis-based employee benefits and compensation advisory firm, in 1997 at the age of 24. In 2021, the company was acquired by New York City-based NFP Corp., one of the nation’s largest insurance brokerages, for an undisclosed amount. In April, the global professional services firm Aon acquired NFP. Today, Brenner focuses on client work related to benefits strategy, compensation and employee communications. He also helps CEOs and leaders develop highly effective workplace cultures. He serves on the board of Butler University, the Indy Chamber and Progress House.
First job: “Mowing lawns for a local family that owned multiple businesses and homes. I learned the value of hard work and how to be of service to an entrepreneur. And I learned how to treat employees—and how not to treat them.”
Admires most: “My grandfather. He became No. 2 in a local manufacturing company with just an eighth-grade education.”
Myrta Pulliam
Before she retired, Myrta Pulliam was director of special projects for Star Media in Indianapolis and a founder of Investigative Reporters and Editors, which focuses on improving investigative journalism. Now, she is on the steering committee for Free Press Indiana (formerly known as the Indiana Local News Initiative). That group launched the not-for-profit newsroom, Mirror Indy, in December and plans to have 20 staff members providing Indianapolis with community-centered news. She serves on the boards of the Indianapolis Zoo, Indianapolis Prize, Newfields, Lewa Conservancy USA and DePauw University. She formerly co-chaired the Indianapolis Prize, which is one of the world’s leading awards for animal conservation.
Advice for a young person: “Work your ass off.”
Worries about: “The state of the planet that we are killing, and democracy, which is in severe danger.”
Admires most: “My nana, who taught us we could do/be anything we chose. My grandpa for similar reasons.”