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Holly CEO Got
His Start As An Apprentice Field Man
By Lois Kerr
 Roger
Hill, president and CEO of Holly Sugar since 1988, understands
sugarbeets, sugarbeet growers and the sugar industry as a whole.
He has spent a lifetime working with sugar and the sugar industry.
He grew up on a sugarbeet farm, then worked his way through the
ranks with the Holly Sugar Company from an apprentice field man to
the top job as president and CEO of Holly Sugar.
Hill began his career in the sugar industry
in April, 1963 at Worland, WY, after spending two years as an
extension agent. He knew when he graduated from college that he
wanted either extension work or work within the sugar industry,
since he had a farm background and understood the farming way of
life. “I grew up on a sugarbeet farm, so I wanted a job either
in sugar or in extension work,” says Hill. “I wanted a job
that would get me outside and allow me to work with farmers and
ranchers.”
In 1963, two years after graduating from the
University of Wyoming with a degree in animal production, Hill had
the opportunity to work at the Worland plant. “My first two
years after graduation I spent working as a county extension agent
in Cheyenne, WY,” Hill remarks. “I then had the opportunity to
work at the Worland plant, so I took it.”
He adds, “I started at the very lowest
level, as an apprentice field man. At that time, Holly Sugar had
11 company farms, where the company owned the land and leased it
out. I worked for a grower, who farmed the land.”
Eight months later, Holly Sugar transferred
Hill to Riverton, WY, as a field man. He spent two years in
Riverton, WY, then accepted a transfer to Grand Junction, CO,
where he spent another two years as a field man. (Hill notes that
the term ‘field man’ has since been changed to
‘agriculturist’.)
Hill then moved to company headquarters in
Colorado Springs for further training. While at Colorado Springs,
he worked as assistant to the district manager. “At that time,
the district had six plants: Sidney, Hardin, Delta, Hereford,
Torrington and Worland,” Hill notes.
Holly Sugar again transferred Hill,
promoting him to ag manager at the Worland plant. He spent another
two years at the Worland plant, then made, what for him seemed
like a big change. “I made what was for me a drastic change,”
Hill recalls. “I moved to Imperial Valley in California as ag
manager, and I stayed there for five years.”
In 1977, Hill transferred to Santa Ana to a
factory in the process of changing over from a beet refinery to a
cane refinery. He became the general manager of the cane division
at the Santa Ana plant. In 1980, he transferred back to Colorado
Springs and continued to move through company ranks, holding the
job of vice president of agriculture, then senior vice president
of agriculture, and then moving into the position of executive
vice president. In 1988, when Imperial Sugar purchased Holly
Sugar, Hill became president and CEO of Holly Sugar, a position he
has held ever since.
Hill sees Holly Sugar as taking a
philosophical approach to business that recognizes the importance
of the growers. The local Holly Sugar staff works in close
cooperation with growers to obtain the best possible beets for
processing. “I feel Holly Sugar has been a leader in grower
relations,” Hill says. “It makes sense to work together and to
maintain a close relationship between growers and the company. The
sugar industry needs strong growers and strong processors for
industry survival.”
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