Latest news with #SteveHenderson
Otago Daily Times
27-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Positive vibes ahead of field days
Registrations are open for the 2026 Southern Field Days in Waimumu. Shawn McAvinue talks to Southern Field Days chairman Steve Henderson, of Awarua, about the event in February next year. Q. How are you feeling about organising this event? We're pretty excited about this one because the last one [2024] was the first one back after Covid and we didn't know how it was going to go. The rural sector is looking pretty positive and the feedback we've got from exhibitors is they are looking forward to the Southern Field Days. On the site department, we've done a bit of maintenance on the site and trimmed trees, which once segregated five paddocks, so that's pretty exciting. Q. How many exhibitors did you have in 2024 and how many will you have next year? We were maxed out with 800 exhibitors in 2024 and we are expecting the same number next year because we're running out of room. Q. Have you outgrown Waimumu? I don't think we have outgrown Waimumu because if you continue to get bigger and bigger, you probably lose the feel and the reason as to why you're doing the field days. If we went to 1200 exhibitors, it's going to create a whole different feel for the event. You want it compact. It's a great site. It's got the AgriCentre, which is a huge asset. Going forward, we're just trying to create a better feel for the public and exhibitors within our site. Q. You said if you went bigger, you'd lose the reason as to why you're doing the Field Days. What is that reason? The reason we do it is to put on an event that showcases technology and the agricultural suppliers and to bring the community together. We're a real people's field days. The feedback we get is how friendly it is and how everybody bumps into their neighbour and bumps into someone they haven't seen since last field day so there's a heck of a social aspect for the Otago and Southland region. Q. And you think if you got too big, you'd lose that? Yeah, I think we would and we'd have to expand into an area that we don't own and right now, it's all freehold land that Southern Field Days owns. If you expand a bit bigger, you run the risk of leasing land and it not being there the next field day so I think it's better to keep what you've got and enhance it. Q. You haven't thought of holding the event over more than three days? It has always been on a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and we've ummed and ahhed if you do the Saturday and yes, the committee could probably do another day but the exhibitors don't feel they will get the same bang-for-buck if they were there on a Saturday and we are quite different to the national field days. We're not driven to have a Saturday because a lot of the rural people come on a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Q. What about the townies? You call them townies but Southland and Otago, at heart they're rural and they can get away and come one of those three days. Whereas, at Mystery Creek they draw quite a few from Hamilton and Auckland. Q. So there's no urban-rural divide in the South because everyone's rural? I reckon they've all got one link to rural. Q. Commodity prices have improved since the past field days. Do you think that'll translate to more sales? I think so. It's going to translate to a lot more positivity. If farmers have a good year this year and get to Christmas and they know they're heading in the right direction, I think it'll be a pretty buoyant few days because there hasn't been a lot of capital purchases over the last three or four years. It's just been, hunker down and do minimal repairs and maintenance. So, I think this coming February will be the time that people will start to replace capital equipment. Q. How are site bookings going? About three-quarters has sold so far. So we're looking like a sellout already, which is really positive. Q. Could some potential exhibitors miss out on a site? We're really good at squeezing people in. So not necessarily miss out, but they might miss out on the site that they really wanted and we work on a first paid, first served, basis. It's looking pretty ... positive. Q. Have you put up the site prices for exhibitors? No, we've kept all our site prices the same, as recognition of the loyalty the site-holders have to us. We know it's been tough out there for the last two years.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Aqua Metals Strengthens Board of Directors to Advance Sustainable Battery Recycling and Critical Minerals Production
Industry Leader Steve Henderson and Finance Expert Eric Gangloff Bring Strategic Expertise to Support Growth RENO, Nev., Feb. 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aqua Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AQMS), a leader in clean metals recycling, today announced the appointment of Steve Henderson and Eric Gangloff to its Board of Directors. These additions bring deep industry expertise and financial leadership, supporting the Company's mission to scale its cost leading and low-carbon lithium battery recycling technology and accelerate the development of a domestic critical minerals supply chain. Strengthening Industry Reach and Commercial Execution Steve Henderson joins Aqua Metals' Board with over four decades of experience in automotive, specialty chemicals, and manufacturing. Most recently, he served as Executive Vice President at Leggett & Platt, overseeing businesses that accounted for over half of the company's total revenue and EBITDA. Previously, at Dow Chemical, Henderson led the company's automotive division and played a key role in advancing battery material innovations, working directly with industry leaders like Tesla, Ford, and Magna. 'Aqua Metals is building a cleaner, more cost-efficient solution for battery recycling and critical minerals production,' said Steve Cotton, CEO of Aqua Metals. 'I look forward to leveraging Steve's experience and network to help the company establish a strong position in the global battery supply chain ecosystem.' Expanding Financial and Investment Expertise Eric Gangloff has extensive experience in capital markets, debt financing, and investment management. As the Founder of Summit Alternative Investments and Chairman and CEO of AmeriFirst Finance, he has structured and executed complex debt and equity financial transactions across multiple asset classes with counterparties such as Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, First National Bank of Omaha, Bayview Asset Management, Credigy, Fortress Investment Group and many others. His background includes leadership roles in both consumer finance and strategic lending, making him well-equipped to support Aqua Metals' growth and commercialization strategy. 'Eric's expertise in structuring financing solutions will be a major asset as Aqua Metals moves toward commercial-scale operations,' said Steve Cotton, CEO of Aqua Metals. 'His ability to connect financial strategy with operational execution will also help us accelerate our plans and drive long-term value for our stakeholders.' Scaling Clean Battery Recycling for the Future These appointments come at a critical time as Aqua Metals strives to scale its AquaRefining™ process aiming to provide an economically profitable, environmentally sustainable and domestically sourced supply of lithium, nickel, and cobalt—key materials for electric vehicles and energy storage. The Company's technology eliminates the need for polluting smelting processes and significantly improves economics by recycling chemicals in a closed-loop process versus high-cost, one-time-use chemicals and undesirable waste streams. AquaRefining™ provides a low-cost, low-carbon, closed-loop recycling solution to reduce reliance on foreign supply chains. Henderson's deep industry connections and Gangloff's financial expertise are expected to support Aqua Metals' efforts to expand commercial partnerships, secure financing, and accelerate the buildout of its Sierra ARC facility. About Aqua MetalsAqua Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AQMS) is reinventing metals recycling with its patented AquaRefining™ technology. The Company is pioneering a sustainable recycling solution for materials strategic to energy storage and electric vehicle manufacturing supply chains. AquaRefining™ is a low-emissions, closed-loop recycling technology that replaces polluting furnaces and hazardous chemicals with electricity-powered electroplating to recover valuable metals and materials from spent batteries with higher purity, lower emissions, and minimal waste. Aqua Metals is based in Reno, NV and operates the first sustainable lithium battery recycling facility at the Company's Innovation Center in the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center. To learn more, please visit Aqua Metals Social MediaAqua Metals has used, and intends to continue using, its investor relations website ( in addition to its Twitter, Threads, LinkedIn and YouTube accounts at (@AquaMetalsInc), (@aquametalsinc), and respectively, as means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Safe HarborThis press release contains forward-looking statements concerning Aqua Metals, Inc. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and other statements that contain words such as "expects," "contemplates," "anticipates," "plans," "intends," "believes", "estimates", "potential" and variations of such words or similar expressions that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes, or that do not relate to historical matters. Those forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, including, but not limited to those risks disclosed in the section "Risk Factors" included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 28, 2024. Aqua Metals cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake and specifically disclaims any obligation to update or revise such statements to reflect new circumstances or unanticipated events as they occur, except as required by law. Contact Information Investor RelationsBob Meyers & Rob FinkFNK IR646-878-9204aqms@ MediaDavid ReganAqua in to access your portfolio
