Kristin White is the new deputy regional director of operations for the Bureau of Reclamation’s California-Great Basin Region. She previously served as operations manager for the Central Valley Office where she was responsible for the daily water and power operations of Reclamation’s Central Valley Project.
The Organic Trade Association has brought on Joelle Mosso as senior director of technical and regulatory affairs, and Scott Rice as director of regulatory affairs. Mosso previously worked at Eurofins Scientific, an international analytical testing services company, where she was the chief scientific officer for the produce segment. Before that, she worked at Earthbound Farm, one of the world’s largest organic produce companies. Rice has over 20 years of experience in the organic industry. He previously worked at the Washington State Department of Agriculture, where he oversaw outreach and external affairs in the organic program.
OTA will be losing Gwendolyn Wyard, currently vice president of regulatory and technical affairs. She is leaving the organization in June to start her own business, Strengthening Organic Systems.
Anna Fabrega is now the CEO of Local Bounti, effective June 5. Local Bounti's current co-CEOs and co-founders, Craig Hurlbert and Travis Joyner, will take on new roles with the company: Hurlbert as senior vice president of strategy and Joyner as chief technology officer. Fabrega previously was the CEO of Freshly and was an Amazon executive.
Nath Morris has been selected as the next president of U.S. Poultry and Egg Association (USPOULTRY). He succeeds John Starkey, who will retire in August, and will remain on as an adviser through the end of the year. Morris, a Georgia native, has been executive vice president of expo at USPOULTRY. Before joining USPOULTRY, Morris worked for Perdue Farms/Heritage Breeders, Arbor Acres Farms/Aviagen, Meyn USA, and Seaboard Farms.
Abed Abdo has been tapped as the new chief financial officer of Organic Valley. Bringing over 20 years of finance experience to the role, Abdo previously worked at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, where he had served as the CFO since 2019. He is a certified public accountant.
Darci Vetter has accepted a new role with PepsiCo as the new head of global public policy. She previously was principal at Sower Strategies and before that worked at The Nature Conservancy and Edelman Global Advisory.
Lori Bigras has joined Ocean Mist Farms as the new communications manager. She previously worked at Tradin Organic as a supervisor and before that as a product development manager at UCSC Silicon Valley Extension.
Angus Kelly is the new head of government affairs at Inari. Kelly previously worked at the National Corn Growers Association as the director of public policy. He also brings 12 years of experience working for Syngenta to his new role.
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Jerry Cook has been appointed chief financial officer of Custom Agronomics, a provider of liquid plant nutrition. Cook previously worked for Ascent Chemicals, DanChem Technologies, and TCI Powder Coatings.
Brent Hales has accepted the role of associate vice president of the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of California. Bringing over 20 years of experience to the role, Hales previously was the associate dean of Pennsylvania State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences and director of Penn State Extension.
Delta Fresh Sales has hired Nate Bachelier to its team. He previously worked for PBA Produce as a buyer and broker.
Maria Katindig has joined USA Rice as the new finance manager. She has a bachelor's degree in commerce and accounting from St. Paul’s University and has worked at various private companies, non-profit organizations, and local government entities.
Joe Ingardia Sr., co-founder of Ingardia Bros. Produce Inc., died May 16. He was 87. In 1973, Ingardia and his brother opened a small retail produce and seafood store in Costa Mesa which quickly sparked demand and grew into what is known today as Ingardia Bros. Produce Inc., a foodservice restaurant distributor in Southern California.
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