|
(Washington,
DC) August 13, 2008 - Charles "Shorty" Whittington, President
of Grammer Industries in Grammer, Indiana, and Integrity Biofuels in
Morristown, Indiana, was presented with the Indiana AgriVision Award by
Indiana Lt. Governor Becky Skillman at the annual Indiana State Fair in
Indianapolis.
This award, given by Lt. Governor Skillman, is in keeping with the vision
that Indiana is a global leader for agricultural and food innovation and
commercialization.
The award is presented to an Indiana resident who has demonstrated
exemplary leadership to maximize Indiana's agricultural potential and
secure it as a world leader in agriculture production. It is bestowed on
the person who has reshaped Indiana's agriculture through innovative
advances with new business methods in all sectors of agriculture - from
bioenergy to transportation to trade.
Charles "Shorty" Whittington grew up in agricultural
surroundings. He started in farming and rapidly developed an
agri-business transportation career. The diversity of farming, grain
elevator operations and the need he saw for specialized transportation
prompted Whittington to establish Grammer Industries in 1977. His
present-day corporations include property companies from Florida to
Michigan, equipment sales and leasing, specialized tanker fleets and
terminal operations throughout the Midwest. Recognizing the need
for renewable fuels and the role they will play in the future of the transportation
industry and reducing America's dependency on foreign oil, Whittington
partnered with his son, John, to create Integrity Biofuels in 2006.
Grammer Industries, Inc., headquartered in south central Indiana,
supplies transportation services for industrial, agricultural and retail
suppliers. Grammer specializes in transporting anhydrous ammonia, both C
grade and Met grade, liquefied petroleum gases, carbon dioxide, nitric
acid and bulk liquid corrosive hazardous waste throughout the eastern
half of the U.S.
Grammer Industries, Inc. grew from a strong core of transporting
agricultural goods to an industry leader in a wide variety of specialized
transportation, safety, training, emergency response, installation, and
facility management to create a fear-free atmosphere for its customers.
Integrity Biofuels, Central Indiana's first soy biodiesel plant, is
located in Morristown, Indiana. This production facility uses soybean
soil as its primary feedstock to be converted to methyl-esters (B100
Biodiesel). The process incorporates the latest technology and
automation to produce some of the finest quality biodiesel fuel in the
United States.
Whittington is currently the first vice chairman of the Board of
Directors of the American Trucking Associations (ATA). He will become
Chairman of the Board in October 2008 and he will be the first commercial
agriculture transporter to be ATA's Board Chairman.
Whittington serves on the boards for the Indiana Motor Trucking
Associations (IMTA), the Agricultural & Food Transporters Conference
(AFTC), the National Tank Truck Carriers (NTTC), and is active in many
state propane and fertilizer trade associations. Whittington served on a
government negotiated rule making board, one of only five successful such
missions of the Department of Transportation. He is also a member of the
National Biodiesel Board.
Whittington has been awarded the Distinguished Service Award of the AFTC,
where he served as chairman for six years. He was the commercial
agricultural transportation and biofuels representative on the 2007 Trade
Mission to China under the leadership of the Under Secretary of the U.S.
Department of Commerce. He has also participated in a number of seminars
and events on biofuels for the United States Chamber of Commerce, and
received an award from the Central Indiana Clean Cities Program in 2008.
Whittington is a graduate of Purdue University. He was awarded the
Agricultural Distinguished Alumni Award by the Purdue University School
of Agriculture in 2006.
He and his wife, Ro Anne, are active at the First Baptist Church in
Columbus, Indiana. They reside just outside of Columbus near the small
town of Grammer, Indiana.
|