A Team Effort Worth Celebrating. Michael Lynch Honored with Birmingham Business Journal CEO Award

Written By Laura Tippett

CHONEX is proud to share that our CEO, Michael Lynch, was honored by the Birmingham Business Journal at its 2025 CEO Awards, an annual event recognizing visionary leaders who are shaping the future of Birmingham through innovation, integrity, and impact. Read Michael’s interview with the Birmingham Business Journal.

While the award carries an individual title, it represents something much broader to us as a company. This recognition reflects the collective effort of a disciplined, mission-driven team building something real, durable, and meaningful in agriculture.

Birmingham Business Journal 2025 CEO Awards

The CEO Awards brought together Birmingham’s top executives for a festive evening celebrating leadership and community. The evening highlighted CEOs who are not only driving business success but also making a lasting difference across the region.

Recognition Rooted in Team Execution

While the award carries an individual title, it reflects something far more meaningful to us as a company: the steady, disciplined work of an exceptional team building something real, durable, and impactful.

This recognition is not about a single person. It is a reflection of momentum—earned through years of execution across science, regulation, operations, and relationships—and the people who have carried that work forward day after day.

That progress is the direct result of a team that shows up with humility, rigor, and accountability.

  • Sam Gray Jr. has been instrumental in building grower trust, field trials, and dealer relationships—ensuring our work stays grounded where it matters most: in the field.

  • Michael Pisciotta has provided scientific and regulatory leadership, helping translate deep biology into credible, defensible product positioning.

  • Gary Black has guided our engagement with NRCS, EQIP, and public-sector partners, helping align CHONEX with conservation programs that reward farmers for doing the right thing.

  • Erin Williams has quietly built the operational backbone of the company—licensing, compliance, compensation systems, and execution discipline that make growth possible.

  • Laura Tippett has helped turn complex science and policy into clear, trustworthy communication for growers, partners, and regulators.

  • John Claypool and Sam Harris have strengthened our financial modeling, capital strategy, and organizational focus.

  • Jon Alberson has supported operational planning and near-term production strategy.

  • Billy Ferguson, Misha Vandal, and Les Riley have been on the front lines—working with growers, dealers, and partners to ensure StrongSoil® is placed correctly and responsibly.

This list is not exhaustive. Many others—scientists, operators, partners, and advisors—contribute daily without recognition. That is often how the most important work gets done.

Company Milestone

Over the past year, CHONEX has achieved important milestones as a company.

  • Achieving CDFA-aligned labeling and BiomeMakers’ first-ever Certificate of Authenticity for StrongSoil®

  • Completing multi-crop trials across row crops, specialty crops, and produce

  • Finalizing distributor compensation and sales enablement systems

  • Positioning CHONEX within NRCS EQIP 590 and other conservation programs

  • Advancing OMRI-compliant formulation and scalable production planning

These aren’t flashy accomplishments, but they are the kind that endure particularly in agriculture, where trust is earned through consistency, data, and compliance across complex systems.

A Shared View of Leadership

When reflecting on leadership, Michael has often shared that the most meaningful shift in his career came when he stopped trying to carry everything himself and started trusting others—trusting the team, trusting the process, and trusting that disciplined execution would matter in the long run.

That mindset shapes how CHONEX operates:

  • Trust over speed

  • Substance over hype

  • Long-term impact over short-term wins

Any external recognition is simply a reflection of that shared culture.

Looking Ahead

CHONEX remains focused on what comes next: supporting farmers as they restore soil health, improve nutrient efficiency, and build more resilient agricultural systems that benefit food, land, and communities.

We are grateful for the acknowledgment from the Birmingham Business Journal, but even more grateful for the people who made it possible. Th

is recognition belongs to the entire CHONEX team.

— Michael Lynch, on behalf of the CHONEX team

 
Laura Tippett
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