OHP announces promotion and new hire

OHP Inc., an American Vanguard Company, has announced the promotion of industry veteran Ron Ostrander to the position of vice president of commercial operations, and the addition of Sam Drahn as technical manager.

In his new role, Ostrander will direct all commercial efforts for OHP, a leading provider of technology-based pesticide solutions for the greenhouse and nursery production markets and key entity in the AMGUARD Environmental Technologies specialty solutions portfolio.

Ostrander joined OHP in July 2018 as Florida technical sales manager, where he successfully grew the OHP brand and product line at the grower and distributor level.

"We are fortunate to be able to fill this key position with someone from within our ranks," said Shayne M. Wetherall, CEO of AMGUARD and OHP. "Ron’s passion and enthusiasm are contagious, and we know he will lead OHP beyond where it’s been for many years — a recognized leader in our industry."

Prior to joining OHP, Ostrander's experience includes sales and commercial roles at Chemlawn, VJ Growers Supply, ProSource One, and the HC-Companies.

In addition to our internal promotion, OHP is excited with the addition of Sam Drahn. A nursery veteran, Drahn most recently served as research director for Rainbow Ecoscience. Prior to that, he spent 14 years with industry-leading Bailey Nurseries, working first as a greenhouse grower and then as the research and development director in his last nine years with the company.

Drahn will focus on field development work on new and existing products and technical support of sales with a focus on herbicides and plant growth regulators. Drahn will report to Carlos Bográn, Ph.D., OHP's senior technical manager.

"We were looking for someone with a particular set of skills and Sam fits our needs perfectly," notes Wetherall. "He has R&D expertise, product development ability and has worked in a sales and solutions-driven environment, all critical components of the OHP way of approaching the market."

Drahn has contributed to several key industry groups such as the International Plant Propagators Society, Plant Growth Regulators Society and Kanuga Research Symposium.