Rainbow Technologies Inc

AGWEEK EXCLUSIVE: Dahl cultivates markets, friendships in Russia

MOSCOW - To succeed in the Russian agricultural equipment world, Howard Dahl has become as comfortable in the financial center of Moscow as he is in the farm fields of Russia and Ukraine.

He is president and chief executive officer of Amity Technology L.L.C. of Fargo, N.D. In 2011, he became president of AGCO-Amity J.V. L.L.C. - a joint venture between Amity and one of the largest farm machinery makers on the planet. Howard currently is serving a stint on the Minneapolis Federal Reserve bank and travels regularly to Washington as a member of the regional audit committee chairman. He has been a speaker for functions at Export-Import Bank of the United States.

Amity evolved from Concord Inc., a company Dahl founded in 1 MOSCOW - Watching as Howard Dahl reads signs in public notices and signs in downtown Moscow, I am amazed at how he been able to read the signs that have led to success for his company and so many North Dakotans.

I first met Howard in the mid-1980s, when his father, Gene Dahl, introduced us. I'd known Gene through his years as chairman of the board of Steiger Tractor Co. - a signature North Dakota/Minnesota company. Gene was the son-in-law of E.G. Melroe, who started a company that eventually developed the Bobcat brand, another signature company for the state.

Back then, Gene asked if I'd be interested in talking to Howard about a story for The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead about Howard's Concord air seeders  Howard and his brother, Brian, had been building his business for several years by then, bringing pneumatic seeders and minimum-till technology to the Upper Great Plains.

Gene smiled a lot at this interview, but I remember Howard was distracted.

"The late 1980s were a very difficult time for anyone building farm machinery," Howard recalls, years later.

Howard had grown up in Gwinner, N.D., home of Bobcat. He'd gone to the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, then on to work for Campus Crusade for Christ in southern universities. He met his wife, Ann, in 1972 and went on to graduate school at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, where he earned a master's in the philosophy of religion. He loved the academics, but was pulled back to his heritage in Fargo, N.D.

He'd spent time in Hungary on behalf of his father's company in 1974 as Steiger began to use axles made in that country. He found himself interested in the lives of people who had lived under the atheist mandate of the state.

Organic beauty brands sued 'for not putting enough organic ...

Not organic enough: The CEH is suing the makers of Jason Thin-to-Thick conditioner (left), Boots Amazon Forest Brazil Nut & Vanilla body wash (centre) and Baby Avalon Organics Silky Cornstarch baby powder (right)

The organisation’s executive director, Michael Green, told how a simple reading of the ingredients list on the back of many products found that many fell short of the California Organic Products Act of 2003 .

He said: ‘For years, organic advocates have called on personal care companies to fix their improper ‘organic’ labels, but our recent purchasing shows the industry is still rife with unsubstantiated organic claims.’

He added that the aim of the CEH was to encourage companies to use organic ingredients, and ensure that consumers can trust organic labels to be meaningful and consistent.

The case was filed at Alameda County Superior Court last week.

It is the latest in a string of disputes over the labelling of organic cosmetics, and the second time the CEH has taken action against Hain Celestial Group Inc, which owns the Jason and Avalon Organics brands.

Legal disputes over organic labelling initially targeted food growers in 2007. The next year, cosmetic products claiming to have organic ingredients were targeted. None of those lawsuits have been resolved.

The federal government does not have organic labelling rules for cosmetic products. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved California standards.

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