KANSAS CITY — Bartlett, a part of the Savage family of companies, has elevated Robert G. Knief and Joe Griffith to new leadership positions.
Knief has been promoted to executive director of Bartlett. He has been with Bartlett since 2004, when he joined the company in a domestic wheat merchandising role. He later managed Bartlett’s Mexico business as vice president, and in 2011 was named president of Bartlett Grain. Following Savage’s acquisition of the Bartlett business in August 2018 he was named president of Bartlett. He added the title of sector president, agriculture, in 2019.
Prior to Bartlett, Knief was a wheat merchant for Scoular Grain in Kansas City. He began his career in the grain industry in 1992, working in origination with Continental Grain in Minneapolis, and in facility management in several locations before becoming an export wheat merchant in Kansas City for Continental Grain.
Succeeding Knief as president of Bartlett is Griffith. Griffith most recently was senior vice president of Bartlett Grain since November 2017. Earlier he was vice president of Bartlett Milling Co. LP and before that spent many years as general director of transportation of Bartlett and Co.
“In their new roles, Bob will continue to focus on the business’ strategy and future growth, and Joe will take the lead on expanding Bartlett’s day-to-day operations,” Bartlett said. “Bob and Joe have more than 45 years of combined experience at Bartlett. With their leadership, the company has grown significantly over the last six years and is well positioned to continue on that path.”
