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Andy is a founder of two leading bio-material companies with a long track record of establishing compelling value propositions, creating growth from disruptive innovations, building corporate and product brands, and establishing and leading business strategies, commercial capabilities and teams. 

 

His background as an executive at Elevance Renewable Sciences, Inc. and with NatureWorks, LLC, Cargill, Inc. and The Dow Chemical Company gives him a unique understanding of the dynamics required for success at both start-up and Fortune 50 multi-national companies. 

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Andy Shafer

Andy has a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame with an MBA from the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management, and a certificate in Managerial Issues in the Global Enterprise from Thunderbird School of Global Management.

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Andy has a deep and strong track record building businesses, commercializing innovation and establishing B2B branding.  He has successfully:

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  • Established the vision and created strong value propositions for corporate and business product opportunities;

  • Defined and established corporate and product brand strategies, architecture and market presence;

  • Developed and commercialized many new products utilizing stage-gate and Go-to-Market processes;

  • Identified and established critical market partnerships and collaborations;

  • Directed development of global business, marketing, segmentation & communication strategies;

  • Identified, established & managed distribution channels, technology partners and toll manufacturing.

At Dow Chemical as chairman of the Versene™ Chelants North American Product Management Team he led new product development initiatives and launching new Versene™ product line extensions into multiple applications and industries.

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He later helped Dow Chemical assess an opportunity in bio-based plastics with Cargill, Inc., defining the value proposition and developing the unique highly innovative business model that led to the formation of a joint venture. Originally known as Cargill-Dow Polymers, then Cargill Dow, the company eventually changed its corporate name to that of its product brand and today is known as NatureWorks, LLC. With that change, the company simultaneously re-branded its products into Ingeo. The rebranding efforts significantly reduced market confusion about the company and its products. Today, NatureWorks™ and Ingeo™ are two of the most successful brands in the bio-products marketplace.

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After leaving NatureWorks, Andy led transforming an R&D matching grant from the U.S. Department of Energy into what is today Elevance Renewable Sciences, Inc. At Elevance, his roles included that of EVP, Corporate Brand and Communications and he established both the corporate brand essence and the brand architecture for a portfolio of opportunities in the company’s three market facing business units: Consumer and Industrial Ingredients; Lubricants and Additives; and Engineering Polymers, and managed the successful launch of Elevance Clean™, Elevance Soft™, Elevance Smooth™, Elevance Aria™ WTP 40 and Inherent™ Renewable Building Blocks.

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Andy is now helping large and emerging companies build their businesses, innovate and establish compelling brands.

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