MOSES LAKE, WA  Since joining the Washington State Potato Commission in February 2005 as its director of trade, Matt Harris has tackled a number of issues involving foreign trade partners of the United States, and the recent hearing before the Canadian International Trade Tribunal is one of the more prominent. The July hearing, which lasted three-and-a-half days, brought Washington potato growers, industry experts and economists before the CITT. Through attorneys working on its behalf, the U.S. contingent presented the Canadian tribunal with historical, scientific and economic evidence that

Ellie Coen's mother always said that her daughter would love working in the produce industry. It turns out that mom was right. "She was an inspiration to me," the 28-year-old account manager for Dovex Marketing in Wenatchee, WA, said of B.J. Holland, who died just over a year-and-a-half ago. Well known in the Wenatchee Valley fruit business, Ms. Holland had her own pear orchard, which is still managed by her husband, and had worked over the last 12 to 15 years in sales for Dovex as well as for Stemilt Growers and Gwin, White & Prince Inc., also in Wenatchee. Ms. Coen grew up on the edges of

Ironically, the effort to go paperless with invoicing has created situations where sellers must fax hard-copy PACA Trust notices to preserve their priority rights under the law. Bruce Summers, chief of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, recently explained the growing issue to the Fruit & Vegetable Industry Advisory Board and reiterated the quandary in a recent interview with The Produce News. In 1995, the PACA Trust provisions of the act were amended to allow for the preservation of rights by simply including the correct phraseology on an

Prime Produce International LLC, an avocado marketing organization in Lake Forest, CA, is relocating its corporate offices to Placentia, CA, near Anaheim, where the company will now also operate its own cold storage facility, according to Prime Produce President and CEO Avi Crane. The move will allow the company to better serve customers and growers, he said. Prime Produce, which sources avocados both domestically and globally, was founded in early 2004 by Mr. Crane, an avocado industry veteran. The Placentia facility was previously used by Sunrise Growers Inc. to store strawberries. It became

MONTEREY, CA  In mid-April, Maggie Bezart left a high-profile position as vice president of marketing and sales for Castroville, CA-based Ocean Mist Farms. She has resurfaced with a consulting business  Maggie Bezart Marketing Services  aimed at the fresh produce industry. The 25-year produce industry veteran's stated mission is to be "the most productive marketing service company for the produce industry." Her services will include assisting companies in marketing, advertising, and setting goals and strategies for growing their businesses. She launched with a couple of accounts in tow and

John Allan, assistant office manager at Crews & Garcia Inc. in Tampa, FL, and owner of All Seasons Nursery in Seffner, FL, died July 21 after a 10-year battle with cancer. He was 57 years old. Mr. Allan got his start in the produce industry in 1973 at Ruskin Packaging Inc. in Ruskin, FL, where he managed the packinghouse, said Ernest (Cookie) Garcia, president of Crews & Garcia. By 1989, Mr. Allan was running operations at Crews & Garcia, but left the company to start his own business, All Seasons Nursery. Though he still owned All Seasons Nursery, Mr. Allan returned to Crews & Garcia in 1999