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Work experience

2016Present

Executive Director

The Coalition for Sustainable Organics

The Coalition for Sustainable Organics is a group of environmentally and socially responsible growers committed to maintaining the USDA’s current high standards for certifying organic produce.

Dec 2011Present

President

Frankel International Solutions

Specializing in strategic planning, public relations, market analysis, marketing and promotions, business intelligence, cooperative organization, market access, supply chain analysis and government relations for the fresh fruit and vegetable industry.

Jul 2012Aug 2013

Director of Special Projects and Regulatory Affairs

Andrew & Williamson

Implemented continuous improvement efforts through mentoring and coordinating production, packing, logistics and sales teams in the United States and Mexico to increase profitability and improve quality performance and ensured cross border market access for berry and vegetable products.

Jan 2008Nov 2011

CEO and President

United Potato Growers of America

Led cross functional teams comprised of 30 directly reporting employees, regional cooperative managers and contractors responsible for developing and implementing strategies and tactics for the production and marketing of the owner-members’ potatoes.

United Potato Growers is a  Federated growers’ cooperative of ten regional cooperatives comprised of over 500 fresh and seed potato producers in over 20 states and provinces in North America producing and marketing $1 billion of potatoes on an annual sales.

Jan 1996Jan 2008

President

Fresh Produce Association of the Americas

Led a trade association that assisted member companies in increasing their sales to $3.7 billion per year by identifying common barriers to expanded sales, developing strategies to overcome critical obstacles and executing plans to ensure market access and buyer confidence.

Education

Dec 1989

MA

Stanford University

Food Research Institute

Dec 1989

BA

Stanford University

Quantitative Economics

GROUND BREAKING INITIATIVES

  • Initiated and coordinated government-industry partnerships with the Department of Defense of Mexico, the Department of Homeland Security (Customs), the Department of Commerce, and the USDA Animal Plant Health and Inspection Service to conduct supply chain analyses and implement changes to the inspection procedures on the fresh produce supply chain that reduced industry costs by $100 million per year while more effectively allowing regulatory and law enforcement agencies to execute their missions.
  • Coordinated food safety certification agencies and technical scientists to create the first relatively standardized version of Good Agricultural Practices for fresh produce, provided the results to Food and Drug Administration for the first federal version of Good Agricultural Practices guidelines for fresh produce, educated politicians and FDA officials to influence the content and implementation of the Bioterrorism Act, and conducted education sessions to train foreign growers and US importers to comply with final version of the law and regulations.
  • Partnered with Customs and Border Protection to create practical Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism criteria for farms and packing facilities that allowed the fresh produce industry to participate in the program for the first time.
  • Managed successful industry effort to establish a National Mango Promotion Board (the first allowed comprised primarily of imported product) by listening to industry desire for organized promotion, developing positive test case promotion efforts, hosting industry meetings, drafting proposed order and working with USDA officials to allow petition to move to a referendum.

PROMOTION

  • Led industry working group as President of the Potato Promotion Association to test a proposed $10 million short term demand stimulus effort to manage periods of oversupply by raising supplemental industry funds, reviewing proposals from national in-store merchandising providers for execution at retail level, developing criteria to measure store level sales data and reporting results to industry.
  • Developed and executed a $4 million dollar marketing and public relations program to increase buyer and consumer acceptance of Mexican produce. The program included the hiring, managing and firing of national level advertising, marketing and merchandising agencies combined with local service providers and in-house work to efficiently accomplish industry goals while managing costs.
  • Established and managed a voluntary promotion program for Mexican table grapes financed and overseen by a combination of grape growers from Mexico, Nogales importers and marketers of California and Chilean grapes. The program resulted in a three- fold increase in sales volumes at higher prices for growers while also growing demand during for grapes from all regions.

MARKET ACCESS

  • Carried out strategic and technical analysis and revised tactical plan to assist foreign Department of Agriculture to resolve multiple long standing trade barriers to increased market access to the United States that increased movement of tomatoes, strawberries, green onions, cantaloupes, and avocados.
  • Designed system to eliminate 95 percent of the entry refusals by Mexico of California grown strawberry nursery plants.
  • Conducted training sessions and created written compliance guides for U.S. importers, U.S. and Mexican Customhouse Brokers, and Mexican growers to comply with new and existing trade regulations including certificates of origin, NAFTA and MFN certifications, phytosanitary inspection documentation and other requirements for APHIS, USDA, FDA, Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Transportation.

ADMINISTRATION AND PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

  • Reduced core operating expenses at United Potato Growers of America by half by summarizing and presenting analyses of operations for the board of directors to best allocate work and resources between the central and regional cooperatives in the areas of research, legal compliance, grower communication and production management. 
  • Led team to redesign the packing process for grape tomatoes in Culiacan, Sinaloa that increased the pack-out ratio by 12 percent and reduced customer rejections by 77 percent.
  • Improved coop member profitability by approximately $250 million per year by creating actionable market data to assist cooperative members to balance supply and demand at levels to produce economically sustainable returns.
  • Mentored employees to develop internal talent for positions of increasing responsibility within my organizations and assisted in employee growth evidenced by their placement in leadership positions with other organizations in their field.

COMMUNICATION

  • Conducted over 1,000 industry, media, sponsor and governmental presentations and interviews as association, industry or company spokesman in various forums including trade shows, industry functions and national and international events.
  • Led, wrote and/or coordinated daily and weekly verbal and written communications with potato sales teams and growers to adjust pricing, optimize returns and to ensure the proper balance of available and projected supplies with demand.
  • Effectively led the crisis communication efforts to reassure buyers of members’ produce during supply disruptions including strikes by truck drivers, food borne outbreaks or abrupt regulatory changes impacting the supply chain.

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