Select Sires is excited to announce the hiring of Rick Ellerbrock of West Salem, Ohio and Ernesto Santillanez of Ada, Ohio as Eastern regional managers of Select Reproductive Solutions® (SRS®). These gentlemen will administer reproductive-based technical service and communications, develop and coordinate employee training, and provide sales support and solutions for Select Sires’ dairy and beef customer-owners located in the Eastern half of the United States and Canada.
Ellerbrock has been an employee of COBA/Select Sires in Ohio since 2005 and has served the cooperative as a large-herd technician. He was promoted to reproductive solutions specialist in 2011 and in 2013 he was promoted to regional sales manager. Ellerbrock has extensive experience conducting genetic audits, genomic testing, and reproductive analysis; skills he has used to advance the profitability and sustainability of dairies throughout the COBA/Select Sires sales territory. Ellerbrock is a 2005 graduate of The Ohio State University where he received a Bachelor of Science in agriculture, with a major in animal science and a minor in production agriculture.
“Rick’s service to our customer-owners throughout the past 15 years has provided him with the experience and skills that will prove invaluable as he works with our technicians and service teams to help serve customer-owners across the Eastern U.S. and Canada,” said Todd Kranz, chief development officer for Select Sires Inc.
Santillanez comes to Select Sires with 20 years of experience working in the dairy industry. He brings expertise in employee management and training to his new position. For the past five years, he has held various positions with AFIMILK. Most recently he conducted application support and sales for the Eastern United States, Canada, and South America. Santillanez was born and raised in California. He later managed his father-in-law’s large dairy in Lovington, New Mexico as well as dairy herds in the Southwest United States and Central Ohio. His bilingual skills are extremely valuable as he will collaborate with Hispanic labor in their native language to provide training or troubleshoot reproductive issues.
“We are very pleased that Ernesto is joining the Select Sires team and we look forward to having him use his experience with very large herds, as well as the technical skills acquired in his most recent roles to assist our service teams in serving the cooperative’s customer-owners,” said Kranz.
Based in Plain City, Ohio, Select Sires Inc., is the largest global A.I. cooperative and is comprised of six farmer-owned and -controlled local organizations in the United States. As the industry leader, it provides highly fertile semen, as well as excellence in service and programs to supply dairy and beef producers with the world’s best genetics.
