KC Animal Health Corridor Confirms New Board Leadership

Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011 ” The KC Animal Health Corridor Advisory Board voted at its meeting last evening to appoint Craig Wallace, North America Zone director for Ceva Animal Health, as chair. The board also approved the appointment of Kostas Kontopanos, U.S. president of Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc. as vice chair. Both positions will be held for one year terms at which point the vice chair will become chair.

Yesterday’s vote was prompted by the departure of George Heidgerken, head of corporate division animal health for Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc., when he was relocated to Germany for his new role with the company. George served as chair of the KC Animal Health Advisory Board from August 2010 through August 2011.

Wallace oversees all U.S. and Canadian operations for the North America Zone of Ceva Animal Health. He brings extensive experience in the animal health industry, having spent 22 years at Fort Dodge Animal Health where he progressed through several roles, finally as vice president, U.S. Sales. Prior to joining Ceva he helped expand the North America operations for pet insurance firm Trupanion as senior vice president.

Wallace’s role as chair of the KC Animal Health Corridor Advisory Board will be to act as the primary point of contact for industry, news media and civic leadership. Wallace will also be responsible for leading board decision making and Corridor strategy development, monitoring Corridor strategy implementation, and interacting with the KC Animal Health Corridor Working Group on the day to day management of the Corridor’s activities.

“The KC Animal Health Corridor has the largest concentration of animal health, innovation, research and collaborative assets in the world. Ceva Santé Animale, our parent company, chose to locate Ceva Animal Health’s business units in the Corridor due to the tremendous assets in this region. I am honored to lead the Advisory Board and welcome the opportunities for the Corridor that lie ahead,” said Craig Wallace, Corridor board chair.

Kontopanos will act as a secondary point of contact as he spends the next 12 months integrating with board leadership, Corridor activities and regional industry leadership.

“The pursuits of the KC Animal Health Corridor align closely with our mission at Hill’s Pet Nutrition to help enrich and lengthen the special relationships between people and their pets,” Kontopanos said.”As vice chair of the advisory board, I look forward to fostering new investments and creating exciting opportunities between the industry and our region.”

The KC Animal Health Corridor is a nationally-recognized economic development initiative that has resulted in close to 1,300 new jobs and nearly $1 billion in capital investment for the KC region. The program promotes the KC region as the center of the animal health industry with one third of the sales for the $19 billion industry originating from companies located within the Corridor. This represents the largest animal health industry concentration in the world.

“The local effort has now matured to the point that we need a formal succession plan for our board leadership. We are very happy with the board’s decision to place Craig and Kostas into these roles for 2012,” said Kim Young, vice president of bioscience development for the Kansas City Area Development Council.

Click here for a biography of Craig Wallace.

###About the KC Animal Health Corridor
The Kansas City area accounts for 32 percent of the $19 billion global animal health industry. The Corridor, anchored by Manhattan, Kan., and Columbia, Mo., is home to more than 220 animal health companies, which represents the largest concentration in the world.

About Ceva
In North America, Ceva’s key companion animal products include the Vectra^® line of parasiticides, D.A.P.^® and Feliway^® pheromone behavior aids and Senilife^® neuroprotection for aging pets. Key poultry products include CEVAC^® Transmune IBD, Vectormune^® FP and Vectormune^® HVT. Ceva’s North America Zone headquarters are located in Lenexa, Kansas. Visit www.ceva.us. Ceva is a global veterinary health company focused on the research, development, production and marketing of pharmaceutical products and vaccines for pets, livestock, swine and poultry. Its headquarters is in Libourne, France. Visit www.ceva.com.

About Hill’s Pet Nutrition
Hill’s Pet Nutrition Inc. manufactures Hill’s^® Prescription Diet^® brand pet foods, therapeutic pet foods available only through veterinarians, and Hill’s^® Science Diet^® brand pet foods sold through veterinarians and finer pet specialty stores. Founded more than 60 years ago with a unique commitment to pet nutrition and well-being, Hill’s is committed to its mission to help enrich and lengthen the special relationships between people and their pets. Hill’s produces high-quality, great-tasting pet foods owners can trust and give to their canine and feline companions as part of a veterinary health care team recommendation. This ultimately improves patient health and the health of the practice. For more information about Hill’s Pet Nutrition Inc. and Hill’s Evidence-Based Clinical Nutrition^TM visit HillsVet.com, or visit us on Facebook keywords”Hill’s Pet Nutrition.” Visit www.hillspet.com.