New executive director to lead Iowa Biodiesel Board through pivotal tax-credit renewal effort
As the Iowa Biodiesel Board approaches its 20th anniversary, the organization is entering a new era.
Doug Struyk becomes the executive director effective Oct. 1, succeeding Grant Kimberley.
As part of this transition, management of IBB will transfer from the Iowa Soybean Association, which founded IBB in 2007, to Doug Struyk with Carney & Appleby, IBB’s lobbying firm for over a decade.
The transition comes ahead of Iowa’s 2027 legislative session, when lawmakers will decide whether to extend two important state incentives—the biodiesel production tax credit and biodiesel promotion tax credit.
Both are currently set to expire Dec. 31, 2027, and both are critical to sustaining Iowa’s position as the nation’s leading biodiesel producer.
At the group’s annual meeting in September, the board of directors—made up of state biodiesel producers, farmers and other supply-chain leaders—voted to make Struyk the new executive director.
Struyk has served as a contracted state-policy director since 2015, leading the group to key policy wins like the Governor’s Biofuels Access Bill, which passed in 2022 with broad bipartisan support.
Struyk served as a state representative from Council Bluffs from 2003-’11, serving on the agriculture and ways and means committees.
“I’ve been a biodiesel believer and supporter since my time as a state legislator, and I look forward to taking the reins to propel the organization for another 20 productive years of industry success and growth,” Struyk said. “Extending the biodiesel production tax credit and biodiesel promotion tax credit is our single most critical step in the year ahead—it’s what will stabilize and grow Iowa’s biodiesel industry, and I’m ready to lead that fight on behalf of our producers, farmers and fuel marketers.”
Kimberley, who has served as IBB’s executive director since 2014, is stepping down to focus on his primary role at ISA, where he serves as senior director of market development.
His responsibilities there have steadily expanded, especially around trade, domestic dynamics and other demand priorities critical to improving prices for Iowa soybean farmers, he said.
“I am very proud of what the Iowa Biodiesel Board has accomplished with the growth of our industry and many policy successes in Iowa and around the nation, thanks to the tremendous support of our staff, board members, soybean farmers, biodiesel producers, fuel marketers, coalition partners and elected officials who have championed biodiesel along the way,” Kimberley said.
Kimberley will remain involved with IBB in an ex-officio role, and ISA will remain a member of the organization even as its funding relationship changes.
The board elected Ron Lutovsky, who serves as both the chief operating officer and chief financial officer of biodiesel producer Iowa Renewable Energy in Washington, Iowa, as IBB chair.
“We anticipate a relatively seamless transition, ready to carry forward the Iowa Biodiesel Board’s mission during a vital period to keep Iowa’s biodiesel industry thriving,” Lutovsky said. “I want to thank Grant for his years of dedicated service, where he helped us advance our issues with a steady hand and strong voice. We will miss him, but we welcome Doug, who understands the industry and our needs, and will carry the torch forward with competence and passion.”
In addition to Lutovsky as chair, the other elected IBB officers include:
Vice chair—Pat Woerner, Cargill.
Treasurer—Brad Wilson, Western Iowa Energy.
Secretary—Reo Menning, RINAlliance.
Extending both credits before their December 2027 expiration will be IBB’s defining legislative priority under the new leadership, setting the stage for the organization’s first year as an independent voice for Iowa’s biodiesel industry, Struyk said.
