Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy today announced the resignation of former Iowa State Senator and farmer Hubert M. Houser as a member of SIRE’s board of directors and chair of the Board’s Nominating Committee, effective immediately.

Houser has been a member of the Board since 2005 as the owner of farm, cow-calf and poultry operation located near Carson, Iowa. He served in the Iowa Legislature from 1992 to 2015, first in the House of Representatives and then in the Senate (from 2002 to 2015).

Karol King, Chairman of SIRE’s Board of Directors said: “Hubert Houser is one of the key founders of SIRE, having worked for years to attract additional industry, in particular value-added ag business, to Pottawattamie County and southwest Iowa. Hubert’s leadership and vision included strategic steps to assemble sufficient real estate for SIRE, in advance of the Company’s formation. The respect for Hubert’s long history of public service and his experience with public entities and private business were key to SIRE over and over through the years.”

Mike Jerke, SIRE’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “Since joining SIRE, I have valued Senator Houser’s unique perspective, thoughtfulness and wisdom, I appreciated his consistent challenging of management to carefully evaluate short term and long term aspects of significant actions. Everyone at SIRE wishes Hubert the best as he continues expansion of his farming operations, with many new and innovative projects.”