Chinaberry: Reinventing the Wheel

Management shift: Perhaps the most notable change of all took place three years ago. Pressured by its bank to make executive changes in 2003, the company laid off President Gary DeMaine, who earlier that year had laid off Director of Marketing Mel Concors. At that time, Ed Ruethling, who had served as vice president of marketing during DeMaine’s and Concors’ reigns at the company, assumed the presidency, operating out of his home office in New Harmony, Utah. He had relinquished the presidency to DeMaine in the late 1990s.