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Board of Directors:

  • Ridgway H. White, Chairman
  • Frederick S. Kirkpatrick, Vice Chairman
  • Lizabeth Ardisana
  • Kenneth W. McDuffie
  • John K. Butler
  • Eric S. Peterson
  • Roy E. Peterson, Ph. D.
  • Timothy C. Sanford
  • Horace Wilkins, Jr.
  • Todd L. Wisely

Director Emeritus:

  • W. Archibald Piper, M.D.

Honorary Director:

  • William H. Piper

Officers:

  • Kenneth W. McDuffie, President and CEO
  • Derek duPlooy, Vice President, Raw Sugar Operations
  • Eric Edwards, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs
  • Michael Gorrell, Senior Vice President, Commodity Trading and Sourcing
  • Carl Hogan, Corporate Controller and Assistant Treasurer
  • Luke Kurtz, Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs and General Counsel and Secretary
  • David Pelham, Vice President, Packaging and Clewiston Refinery
  • Derek Pridgen, Vice President, Agricultural Operations
  • Chadwick Nicoloff, Assistant Treasurer
  • Neil F. Smith, Chief Operating Officer of Sugar Manufacturing
  • James A. Snively, Vice President, Citrus Groves
  • Carl Stringer, Vice President, Information Technology and Employee Benefits
  • Elaine Wood, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
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Judy C. Sanchez

Senior Director | Corporate Communications and Public Affairs

Judy Sanchez

Senior Director | Corporate Communications and Public Affairs

There are few things that I am more passionate about than family, farming communities and feeding American families. Communicating to others the importance of farming in today’s increasingly urbanized society is right up there. Fortunately, as Senior Director of Corporate Communication and Public Affairs for U.S. Sugar, I found a career doing what I love with a farming company that values families and community. Communicating through U. S. Sugar’s media, social media and public relations activities and developing our public education and information programs—including Raisin’ Cane tours provide ways to share this information with the public. My responsibilities also include coordinating external and internal communications functions, acting as a corporate spokesperson and assisting our public affairs and community relations efforts.

My key subject areas are U.S. and Florida agriculture, especially Florida’s sugar and fresh vegetable crops, trade, regulatory and environmental issues. Since 2011, when U.S. Department of Agriculture Commissioner Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk first appointed me to the Agriculture Trade Advisory Council (ATAC) on Sweeteners, I have been re-appointed in a bi-partisan manner several times. This group advises both USDA and USTR on trade negotiations in regard to sugar/sweeteners. I am also a Trustee of the Central Palm Beach County Chamber of Commerce and on the Board for Western Palm Beach County Farm Bureau and the Ag Communicators of Florida. Former member of the South Florida Water Management District’s Water Resources Advisory Commission (WRAC) and its subcommittee on Lake Okeechobee and Board member of the Lake Okeechobee Regional Economic Alliance of Palm Beach County.

My credentials include the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communication and a B.A. in communications from Florida Atlantic University. I grew up in Belle Glade, FL, where my husband Julio and I live and raised our family. We have two grown sons and three grandchildren.

Life is sweet.

Ryan Duffy 2021

Ryan Duffy

Director of Corporate Communications

Ryan Duffy

Director of Corporate Communications

Ryan is the Director of Corporate Communications for U.S. Sugar, a position he has held since 2017. In this role, Duffy handles corporate media relations and public engagement at the state and local levels. Additionally, Duffy is responsible for managing U.S. Sugar’s social and digital media initiatives.

Previously, he served as a Vice President at Hill+Knowlton Strategies in Tallahassee and worked closely with U.S. Sugar’s communications and public affairs teams for several years. Duffy previously served as communications director to former House Speaker Will Weatherford and as a speechwriter to former U.S. Senators George LeMieux, Mel Martinez, and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush.

Duffy holds a master’s in Political Management from George Washington University and a bachelor’s from Florida State University. He is a member of the Florida Chamber Foundation Board of Directors, Florida’s Take Stock in Children Board of Directors, the Florida Gulf Coast University School of Agribusiness Advisory Council, his local Rotary chapter, and a member of his local parish council. In his free time, he coaches youth baseball and soccer. He and his wife Danielle reside in Clewiston with their two children.

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Brannan Thomas

Director of Community Relations

Brannan Thomas

Director of Community Relations

Brannan is the Director of Community Relations for U.S. Sugar. In this role, Thomas manages the company’s community support and engagement initiatives, serving the Glades and coastal communities where the people of U.S. Sugar live and work. Thomas is responsible for overseeing U.S. Sugar’s generous community outreach efforts in the towns, groups, and organizations the company supports.

Previously, Thomas served as Director of Business Development for Transworld M & A, a corporate sales and advisory firm based in Fort Lauderdale. He spent nearly 5 years working in the franchise and business sales industry and served as the Southeastern Vice President for United Franchise Group in West Palm Beach.  Part of Brannan’s Community Relations outreach involves sitting on a number of boards. The impressive list includes the Glades Area Boys & Girls Club, Clewiston Chamber of Commerce, Hendry County Economic Development Council, Clewiston Sugar Festival. He is also a trustee with the Central Palm Beach County Chamber Board, and the Sugar Industry Labor Management Committee.

Brannan is a native of the Glades region - born in Pahokee and raised in Belle Glade. He is a proud product of the local school systems where he attended Rosenwald Elementary, Lakeshore Middle, Glades Central and graduated from Glades Day School. Thomas excelled in football, basketball, and baseball. He played football at Lehigh University and graduated with a degree in environmental science.

Thomas’ community involvement also includes extensive coaching experience working with athletes in Palm Beach County. For three years, Thomas coached varsity football and middle school baseball at the King’s Academy in Royal Palm Beach. He also coached defensive backs at Cheyney University, the nation’s first historically black college and university (HBCU) located in Pennsylvania.

Thomas resides in Clewiston with his wife and two children.

Get in Touch

Whether you are interested in scheduling a tour, have a question about our farming or processing operations and products, or would like to join our team, we would welcome the opportunity to talk with you. Our headquarters is located in Clewiston, Florida.

We offer a number of ways to get in touch.

111 Ponce de Leon Ave., Clewiston, FL 33440

(863) 983-8121
[email protected]

Interested in purchasing sugar?

United Sugars Corporation

1-800-984-3585
[email protected]

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