Halverson, who had been Black Gold Farm’s executive vice president of technology, succeeded his father, Gregg Halverson, on Oct. 23.
Gregg Halverson has retained his position as president of the company’s board of directors.
“This is a planned succession — yesterday was my dad’s 65th birthday,” Eric Halverson said Oct. 24. “He’ll step back a bit, be untethered from the day-to-day operations.” said Eric Halverson
Eric said he doesn’t expect to lead Black Gold in a radically new direction.
“We hope it will be pretty much unnoticed from the outside. I don’t anticipate a whole lot of changes.”
Eric Halverson Biography
Prior to his new role as Chief Executive Officer, Eric Halverson was Executive Vice President of Technology at Black Gold and has played a key role in helping to grow the company's reputation as an innovator and industry leader.
The son of Black Gold founder Gregg Halverson and Linda Halverson, he is one of the fourth generation of Halversons involved with Black Gold. Eric was responsible for ensuring Black Gold remains innovative through the effective utilization of technology. He also develops and coordinates the implementation of Black Gold's strategic initiative plan. Eric oversees the management of the Forest River Farm and the IT and Engineering Departments.
He attended North Dakota State University, graduated in 1999 with a B.S. degree in agricultural and bio-systems engineering and then returned to the family farm. Eric also graduated from The Executive Program for Agricultural Producers in 2004.
He attended the Potato Industry Leadership Institute in 2008 and was elected to serve as the Grower Leader for the 2009 class. Eric is a member of the Association of Agricultural Production Executives, and was elected to represent North Dakota on the U.S. Potato Board in 2008, where he was elected to the administrative committee in 2009, serving on the international marketing committee.
He and his wife, Yvette, have three daughters, Lucy, Stella and Ruby, and are members of Calvary Lutheran Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. In his spare time he enjoys spending time with his family, hunting, cooking and tailgating at NDSU football games.
