William R. “Bill” Plourd is the President and C.E.O. of El Toro Export, LLC, a diversified agricultural commodity trading company headquartered in California’s Imperial Valley.  Bill’s 43 years of business experience includes the production, trading, processing, and transportation of Grains, Seeds, Animal Feeds and Beef commodities.  Today El Toro Export, LLC and their 110 employees are proud to be regional market leaders serving domestic and export markets from their four handling facilities.

Bill’s formal education includes a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration/Accounting from the University of San Diego in 1978 and an M.B.A. from San Diego State University in 1993.  His professional affiliations have included being a Director of the California Wheat Commission, Director and President of the California Grain and Feed Association and the Co-Founder, President, and Co-Chairman of the National Hay Association’s Forage Export Council. In addition, Bill has served at San Diego State University as a member of their Entrepreneurial Management Center and their Advisory Board.

Bill was appointed by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke to the San Diego and Imperial County District Export Council and continues to serve in that capacity.  Bill stays involved in his community as a member of the El Centro Rotary Club, a Board member of the El Centro Education Foundation, and a volunteer for the Imperial Valley Food bank.  He and his wife Marybelle have college school age children, Isabella and Matthew.  Together their hobbies include golf, camping, off-roading, boating, and flying.  Bill can be reached at bplourd@eltoroexport.com.

Brandon Galloway is the Chief Financial Officer of the El Toro Entities.  Prior to joining the Company, Brandon worked at a regional CPA firm for 21 years, the last 10 as a partner.  During his career, Brandon has developed an expertise with agricultural clients and performed business reviews, compilations and tax work.

Brandon has served as a past Board of Director and a Supervisory Committee member of the Sun Community Federal Credit Union, a past member of the Finance Council at St. Mary’s Parish and past Vice-President of the El Centro Regional Medical Center Foundation. 

Brandon received his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from San Diego State University and an Masters of Business Administration from Webster University.  He has been certified in the state of California since 1996 and the state of Arizona since 2012.

Brandon is married and the proud father of five beautiful daughters and one son.  He enjoys running and spending time with his family.

Blake grew up in Holtville and attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, achieving a degree in Agricultural Engineering and ultimately a license in Civil Engineering.

Soon after, he returned to his passion of Imperial Valley agriculture, spending his early career in grain trading and logistics, but later took on the role of Vice President and General Manager of El Toro Land & Cattle. He continues to sell durum wheat in addition to managing cattle operations.

Blake has served as President of California Grain and Feed Association and is active with the California Cattlemen’s Association. Locally, he supports various youth projects and the Heber Community Scholarship. Blake lives in El Centro with his wife and three daughters.

Justin was brought on to the El Toro Export team in September of 2010 to assist with hay sales, purchasing, seed, and grain. During his first eight years he was largely focused on product procurement in the Imperial Valley, Yuma, and Mexicali/San Luis regions. In 2018 Justin added the role of Export Sales Manager (El Toro Export and Or/Pac) to his daily duties, where he handles all export hay sales to Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan.

Justin is a 4th generation Hannon involved in agriculture here in the Imperial Valley, coming from a long line of farmers, ranchers, and cattlemen. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration/Management from San Diego State University in 2007 and a Masters of Education and Single Subject Credential (Physical Education) from National University in 2009.

Justin and his wife Erin have three children, Madden, Kingston, and Londyn. He enjoys training athletes looking to go play college sports and assisting in their recruiting process, which he has been doing since the mid 2000s.

Hunter has been with El Toro since 2018 working as an assistant in hay purchasing and sales. He worked for El Toro in the summer of 2017 as an intern where he learned about the various parts of the company before being hired back to the sales team as a full time employee a year later after finishing college.

Hunter earned his Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of California, Davis. Prior to Davis, Hunter attended Grossmont Community College where he also received an Associate’s degree in Behavioral Science. Hunter currently lives in Brawley with his wife Taylor.