| Gutierrez |
Gutierrez said he was drawn to iGPS from his many years in the food service industry. He joined Kellogg Co. in 1975, at the age of 21, as a sales representative in Mexico and rose through the company’s ranks, becoming its president in 1999 and later its chairman.
“This allows me to get up and close to an area I like,” he told American Shipper in a telephone interview late Wednesday. In November 2004, President Bush named Gutierrez commerce secretary, a post he held for five years.
Gutierrez said that during his time in Mexico, where he eventually oversaw Kellogg’s product distribution, wood pallets had to be constantly scrutinized for splinters and even termites due to the moist climate.
Gutierrez believes the overall shipper attitude toward pallets has changed in recent years. While U.S. regulators are examining potential links between wood pallets and food safety, he said “it’s also a time when we’re worried about the environment and recycling.”
iGPS said its pallets are 30 percent lighter than their wood counterparts and are 100 percent recyclable. The pallets are also embedded with radio frequency identification tags for tracking.
“When you add RFID to it, it just seems to me like the right product at the right time,” Gutierrez said. “I feel fortunate and proud to be a part of it.”
Started in March 2006, the Orlando, Fla.-based company’s pallets are now used by a number of large manufacturers, such as General Mills, PepsiCo/Gatorade/Tropicana, Cott Corp., and Imperial Sugar.
On the iGPS board, Gutierrez joins John Fletcher, former chief executive officer of Brambles Ltd., parent company of wood pallet pool operator CHEP, and CEO of Coles Myer Ltd.; and Terry Tamminen, former California Environmental Protection Agency secretary and a noted authority on environmental policy.
In addition to iGPS and several other private company boards, Gutierrez serves on the boards of United Technologies, Occidental Petroleum and Corning. ' Chris Gillis
