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September 05, 2016

05/09/2016: Novus at 25 ‘Batting a thousand’ in innovation and sustainability

by Eloise Hillier-Richardson

This June Darren Parris and I embarked on the long but worthwhile journey to Novus’ International Global Headquarters in St Charles, Missouri, to celebrate their 25th Anniversary.

Journalists and writers from across the globe were invited to the three-day event, encompassing a vast array of exciting excursions, talks and tours, organised by our hosts Brandi Hamilton, Global Marketing and Public Relations Specialist, and Jake Piel, Sustainability Manager.

Our activities commenced on the afternoon of Wednesday, June 15 as Novus ‘hit it out of the park’ with a visit to Busch Stadium to watch the St Louis Cardinals take on the Houston Astros in our own private suites.

It offered an excellent chance to mingle and get to know one another against a backdrop of good food, good sport and thankfully, air conditioning - as the temperature had reached a whopping 35 degrees centigrade.
  

Novus Global Headquarters, St Charles, MO

LEED-ing the way in sustainability

Bright and early on Thursday morning a shuttle arrived to take us to Novus Global Headquarters, about 15 minutes north of our hotel. In 2009 the Novus Global Headquarters building was awarded the Platinum LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, highlighting a central aspect of their ‘Triple S bottom line’ approach, sustainability, at the same time as creating a superior work environment for all employees and reducing costs.

Consolidating the Global Headquarters and the International Research Centre, the single facility encompasses 10 research laboratories, an employee customer training centre, a gym (with classes and a personal trainer) and a cafeteria.

As well as this, the building incorporates sustainable design and ingenuity: it boasts the largest array of solar panels in Missouri; 10 percent of the total material costs are recovered from salvaged materials and 30 percent of total materials are recycled materials; the facility has floor to ceiling windows to maximise natural light, a landscape of Missouri native grasses and plants designed to require no irrigation (meaning thousands of gallons of water are saved each year) as well as their very own beehives.

The Media Jam
The Media Jam began with opening remarks from David Freidman, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and Koichiro Tago, Executive Vice President and Divisional Operating Officer Chemicals Division, Mitsui & Co (USA) Inc., part owners of Novus alongside Nippon Soda Co., Ltd.

Koichiro Tago
Mr Tago is the Executive Vice President of Mitsui, a Global Trading and Investment House in a vast array of businesses, boasting a USD10.9 trillion client base with sales close to USD10 trillion, 47,000 employees and in possession of 450 companies.
 

In recent years they have invested in everything from mining to machinery to energy. They acquired Novus in 1991 along with Nippon Soda. Novus was instantly a more global brand with an emergent Methionine basis in the US, growing more than threefold.

He told us, “Novus brought a lot of innovation to the market with technically advanced products… with a mission statement and corporate vision looking to meet the needs of the customer in a sustainable manner”.

He revealed that Mitsui have a renewed emphasis in this area, opening a new area of the business dedicated to the Agribusiness sector. In fact, Mr Tago divulged that in May Novus recapitalised, issuing new stock, Mitsui then put more capital into Novus, now holding 80 percent of shares instead of 65 percent.

He said, “No one thought that Novus would be what it is today in terms of size and [the types of] products available” sharing that Mitsui have a “very solid growth plan for Novus”. He told us that shareholders feel tremendous opportunities lie ahead for this business, and that they are ready and committed to support Novus’ future.


Read the full article HERE
 

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