Mark Ripato

Mark Ripato is president of Wilbur-Ellis’ Agribusiness division. President since November 2018, Ripato is responsible for leading the execution of the business plan, strategy, sales and marketing, high-level customer service and employee engagement for the independently run division.

Ripato is a long-time agriculture executive with deep and direct exposure into many relevant areas within the ag industry. Prior to joining Wilbur-Ellis, he held various roles at Tenkoz, a leading agricultural buying group of which Wilbur-Ellis is the largest retail member, including CEO and president, vice president and business development manager. In each role, Ripato demonstrated his ability to rapidly take on increasing levels of responsibility in a large, complex and well-respected organization and his deep knowledge of the agriculture supply chain provides unique insights into industry transformation.

Ripato grew up on a farm and worked in an agricultural retail store in northeastern Kentucky where he learned about all segments of the ag retail trade and developed an unwavering commitment to understanding the customer and meeting their needs. Later, he served in the U.S. Air Force as a cryptologic linguist specialist. After leaving the service, Ripato attended the University of Kentucky, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural economics, followed by a short stint at Perdue Farms, a major chicken and related products provider based in Salisbury, Maryland. Later, he complemented his B.S. with an MBA from Salisbury University, formerly Salisbury State University, and an International Master of Management degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Thereafter, he worked for ICI Agricultural Products, which later became Syngenta, where Ripato gained valuable experience managing various chemistry portfolios, and business strategies, integrating them with the introduction of new seed and trait platforms.

Ripato is based out of Wilbur-Ellis’ Agribusiness headquarters in Denver and enjoys spending time on his farm with his wife, Kim, his children, Cody and Colton, as well as the occasional round of golf.