Becker Underwood aligns MicroBio operating and marketing functions

Golf Course News, Jul 2002 by Overbeck, Andrew

AMES, Iowa - In a move to capitalize on its expanding global presence, Becker Underwood has aligned the marketing and operations activities of the Canada and UX-based MicroBio Group it acquired in 2000.

"There is a lot of brand equity in MicroBio," said Roger Underwood, CEO. "They are the largest beneficial Nematode producer in the world and it has a strong biopesticide business. But Becker Underwood didn't get any of that brand equity because many of our customers did not recognize that we owned MicroBio."

By consolidating MicroBio under the Becker Underwood name, Underwood hopes to achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness.

"We have torn the wall down, it is no longer us and them," he said. "We will have more global staff meetings and development teams are being put together."

The company now has 27 global sales representatives on three continents.

"The market in the United States is continuing to grow as the market trends toward using integrated pest management practices," Underwood said. "The market in Europe is even stronger because the portfolio of traditional pesticides is really small."

Aware that many superintendents are wary of biological solutions, Underwood is putting emphasis on developing real world product tests.

"We put our superintendents hats on when we do this work," he said. "Often in when there is research going on in a lab there is more 'r' going on than 'd.' Many things work under perfect conditions. But there aren't perfect conditions in the real world. We are working on provable solutions that give the superintendent value."

Going forward, the company has new products in the both the traditional and biopesticide areas that are getting closer to market.

"One is a biopesticide that will provide superintendents another biological option besides traditional insecticides," Underwood said. "But we are still in development and we are summarizing the data."