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Our History

History of Gowan Company

In 1958, armed with an entomology degree from UC Davis, Jon Jessen moved to Yuma, AZ. It was there that he met and married his wife Liney, a school teacher who was the youngest daughter of a farmer who cleared their family farm around 1915. Liney taught school, made their home, and raised their four children while helping Jon as he tirelessly worked to establish a new business scouting cotton, alfalfa, grass seed and vegetable crops for pests. He called his new business Growers Scientific Services. Still headquartered in Yuma, AZ, Jon’s enterprise became Gowan Company. With his daughter Juli now at the helm as CEO, Gowan has grown into a global agricultural input business with over 27 entities in 15 countries selling critical crop protection solutions to growers across the globe.

 

 Below are just a few milestones that have led Gowan to the unique company it is today:

  • 1962 Growers Scientific Services started (field scouting service for insects)                                 
    Jon Jessen circa 1964
    Jon Jessen circa 1964
  • 1965 Dune Companies of Yuma and Imperial Valley started (retail)
  • 1974 Gowan Company formed
  • 1976 Gowan Milling formed (contract formulation)
  • 1993 Gowan de Mexico organized
  • 1996  Desert Depot started (warehousing)
  • 1997 Gowan Seed began
  • 1997 Gowan Comércio Internacional e Serviços Limitada incorporated (International sales)
  • 1999 Mark Jessen, Jon's son, becomes Gowan's first Europe-based employee
  • 2000 Dune company of Salinas started
  • 2004  Juli Jessen, Jon's daughter, named CEO of Gowan Company
  • 2004 Canyon partnership created with Nissan Chemical
  • 2004 Gowan Agro Canada formed
  • 2005 Gowan Espanola Fitosanitarios established                                                                                  
    Gowan Company circa 1983
    Gowan Company circa 1983
  • 2005 Gowan Italia established
  • 2010 Gowan USA formed in Overland Park, KS                                                                                                                                                  
  • 2010 Dune Company of Mexicali opens
  • 2010 Gowan France formed
  • 2011 Gowan India formed
  • 2016 GCIS becomes Gowan Crop Protection Limited out of UK
  • 2016 Gowan Belgium formed
  • 2017 Gowan Chile formed
  • 2017 Gowan Colombia formed
  • 2019 EcoFlora formed (unit dedicated to biological innovation)
  • 2019 Gowan acquired Cross Link Brazil
  • 2019 Gowan acquired Fenamidon & Pencycuron from Bayer AG
  • 2019 Nissan acquired Quinoxyfen from Corteva - Gowan made exclusive distributor
  • 2020 Gowan Australia formed
  • 2020 Gowan acquired Spirodiclofen from Bayer AG
  • 2021 Gowan acquired Isagro S.p.A