Blount Announces New President For Farm, Ranch & Ag Division

Blount International Inc., Portland, OR, announced that Jerry Johnson has been promoted to president of its Farm, Ranch and Agriculture (FRAG) division. Paul Valas, who has been president of the FRAG division since 2011, will transition to a new position as senior advisor. Since joining the company in 2010 when Blount acquired SpeeCo, Valas has led the development and integration of the FRAG businesses, including SpeeCo, Woods Equipment and TISCO. Prior to the acquisition of SpeeCo, Valas was CEO of SpeeCo and, as part of the acquisition, agreed to a two-year transition role at Blount.

“Paul has been instrumental in creating and leading the FRAG businesses over the past three years, and it has been helpful that he has stayed beyond our original time frame,” said Josh Collins, Blount’s chairman and CEO. “Paul developed and pulled together a cohesive senior management team of FRAG from a disparate group of acquired businesses. Those managers have come together as a team, developed and started executing on a plan, and are now prepared to expand internationally. From the outset, Paul communicated a desire to pursue other opportunities at the appropriate time. Now is the right time for Paul and the company to make this transition.”