Consumer >> CEO Interviews >> September 1, 2003
MAYO SCHMIDT is the Chief Executive Officer of Saskatchewan Wheat Pool,
a major western Canadian-based public agricultural company that trades
on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Canadian Business magazine named the Pool
number 48 in a list of Top Canadian Companies of All Time. In 2000, when
Mr. Schmidt assumed the leadership of the Pool, it was struggling under
a massive debt load and enormous operating costs that threatened its
viability. It generated $3.5 billion in sales, employed 3.400 people at
more than 500 locations throughout Canada, and in the United States,
Mexico, Russia, Poland and the United Kingdom, as well as at
subsidiaries in China, Japan and Australia. Mr. Schmidt immediately
implemented a comprehensive restructuring program to re-position the
company and refocus its efforts on its core businesses: grain handling
and marketing and agri-products sales, supported by agri-foods
processing. He initiated an aggressive cost-cutting program, divested of
non-core assets, closed unprofitable operations, and reduced overall
employee numbers by 45%, while improving productivity through
performance management. Before joining the Pool, Mr. Schmidt was the
Executive Vice President, Domestic and International Operations with KBC
Trading and Processing Company in Stockton, California, a subsidiary of
ConAgra Inc. While at KBC, he led the restructuring and reorganization
of ConAgra Global Specialty Crops businesses, which employ more than 600
people across the United States and in five international offices. Prior
to that, Mr. Schmidt was President of ConAgra Grain, Canada, where he
spearheaded ConAgra's expansion into Canada. He also held a number of
key management positions of increasing responsibility at General Mills
Inc. throughout the United States. Mr. Schmidt earned his Bachelor of
Business Administration degree from Washburn University in 1980. At
Washburn, he earned both athletic and academic scholarships, was team
captain of both the football and track team at various times and
received the Outstanding Player Award for football. Profile
Mr. Schmidt: Saskatchewan Wheat Pool is an integrated, publicly traded
agribusiness traded on the Toronto Stock
