FL2030 Trailblazer Spotlight – Ryan Duffy, U.S. Sugar
Tell us a little about U.S. Sugar.
U.S. Sugar is a recognized leader in farming and food production, owned primarily by its employees and charities set up by its founder, Charles Stewart Mott. The Company farms more than 200,000 acres of the most productive farmland in the United States. Its consolidated, automated milling and refining facility in Clewiston, Florida is the world’s largest vertically integrated sugarcane milling and refining operation — capable of processing 42,000 tons of sugarcane per day and producing approximately 850,000 tons of refined sugar per year. In addition to sugarcane farming and processing, the company also grows citrus, sweet corn, green beans and other fresh produce in a food production region that helps feed nearly 180 million Americans in the winter months every year.
What made you join the Florida Chamber Foundation’s Board of Trustees, and what would you say to other Florida business leaders about the benefit and value of this partnership?
I was interested in joining the Florida Chamber Foundation Board of Trustees because I truly believe in its mission to have a future vision for Florida’s economy. The Chamber already has unparalleled expertise and provides tremendous insight into future economic planning, so it makes sense to have a Foundation leveraging these assets to help address our state’s future economic and workforce challenges. In the few years I have been a Florida Chamber Foundation trustee, I have had the opportunity to work with some wonderful professionals and I look forward to getting even more involved in the future.
What are U.S. Sugar’s particular areas of interest as they apply to reaching the Florida 2030 Blueprint goals designed to make Florida a top 10 global economy by 2030?
U.S. Sugar remains heavily focused on helping to develop the regional workforce talent we need to continue providing food for Americans into the future. Our company utilizes some of the most cutting-edge technology in the global agribusiness space, so we are always looking for new ways to grow, harvest, process and transport food crops Americans depend on every day. Finding the right talent to implement it and maintain it is a huge part of that. We appreciate the Florida Chamber Foundation’s commitment to solving future workforce challenges through its Talent Supply & Education pillar, as well as its commitment to innovation through Innovation and Economic Development pillar.
Click here to learn about the Florida Chamber Foundation’s Board of Trustees who are uniting Florida businesses for good around the Florida 2030 Blueprint.