Washington, D.C. – In a continuing effort to expand access to clean, renewable ethanol, Growth Energy today announced the addition of a new hire to their Marketing Development department to help develop the ethanol market for producers and supporters.
Mike O’Brien joins Growth Energy as Vice President of Marketing Development and will assist fuel retailers with delivering higher blends of ethanol to consumers through Flex Fuel pumps. He brings with him ten years of agricultural and transportation fuels marketing experience.
“We are excited to add Mike to our growing team,” said Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis. “Mike’s experience in the transportation fuels market and his commitment to renewable fuels will help us continue to deliver the quality service that our members and supporters have come to expect. With the addition of Mike to our Market Development team, we can help lead our nation toward energy independence by giving consumers a choice at the pump that includes something other than gasoline refined from foreign oil.”
Since its inception, Growth Energy has advocated for opening the fuels market to ethanol through infrastructure investment. The Market Development team will work to educate consumers about the benefits of ethanol and help retailers install Flex Fuel pumps, which are capable of dispensing mid- to high-level blends of ethanol.
“Ethanol is a domestic, home grown fuel that creates U.S. jobs, reduces carbon emissions and helps strengthen our economy and national security,” said O’Brien. “Flex Fuel pumps give retailers the opportunity to grow their business by offering consumers greater access to this renewable fuel. Every Flex Fuel pump we install helps accelerate our nation’s progress toward energy independence. I look forward to working with the Growth Energy staff and its more than 25,000 members and supports to help make America cleaner, stronger and safer.”
Before joining Growth Energy, O’Brien was employed by Draka Oil & Gas as global director of marketing and communications where he was responsible for initiatives aimed at growing the firm’s business in the global energy market. Prior to that, O’Brien was responsible for global communications focusing on food retail adoption of the first commercial scale bio-polymer made entirely from corn while working at Cargill Dow/NatureWorks.