Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/52389
Roles of industry organizations Organization Responsibility Washington State Horticultural Association Education (annual meeting) State legislative and regulatory issues GRASSP food safety program Northwest Horticultural Council Federal legislative, regulatory, technical, and food safety issues Washington Growers Clearing House Association Yakima Valley Growers- Shippers Association Wenatchee Valley Traffic Association Northwest Fruit Exporters The Marketing Associations Washington Growers League U.S. Apple Association Foreign trade and phytosanitary issues Statistics on fruit prices and shipments State legislative and regulatory issues Statistics on price and movement State legislative and regulatory issues Statistics on price and movement State legislative, regulatory, and transportation issues Master health plan for industry Export and antidumping issues Grade standards Facilitates grower discussions of price and volume Labor issues and training Housing Federal legislative and regulatory issues Consumer education Nutrition research National crop statistics Farm Bureau SOURCE: West Mathison State and federal lobbying would be funded by packers and would provide direction and leadership for industry activities. The board would have four subcommittees, each with a manager. One would cover political and regulatory issues; the second would head industry education and commu- nication; the third would collect price and volume statistics and disseminate them to the industry; and the fourth would cover technical matters, such as phytosanitary and food safety issues. He proposed that the industry hold a summit of industry leaders to discuss the idea. If there's interest in moving ahead, a plan on the structure and governance should be drafted and circulated to each of the industry organizations, he said. Then, a summit of all the board presidents or chairs of each organization should be held so they can create a Memorandum of Understanding on how each of the organizations would transition and develop a timeline for implementing it. Communication Jon DeVaney, executive director of the Yakima Valley Growers-Shippers Association, said refining the industry support structure is something that boards of his and other organizations have discussed for several years. He expected that there would be meetings between board members and staff on an ongoing basis but said there was no current timeline for making changes. "In the meantime, what the industry is clearly focused on is making sure our actions are more coordinated, and the first step is to make sure there's good communication among these organizations, so we're not duplicating efforts or working at cross pur- poses," he said. "It's very bad if any public official gets varying messages from industry organizations, so we're working hard to make sure that doesn't happen." There will be turnover in the management of a number of industry groups over the next few years as people approach retirement, and it makes sense for the industry to be thinking ahead about changes that might be made, he said. "Moving forward cautiously and looking for ways to use resources more efficiently is in keeping with how all of our members run their own businesses," he added. Bruce Grim, executive director of the Hort Association, believes that some stream - lining could take place. "We're utilizing and spending scarce grower resources, and it should be incumbent on all of us to make certain we're using these funds in the best ways possible and avoid duplication of services where we can possibly accomplish that." Grim said efforts are already being made to coordinate activities. The managers or executives of all the industry organizations have been meeting annually for the past several years to discuss what they're doing and avoid overlap. Grim is also director of The Marketing Associations, a job he held before being appointed to run the Hort Association, and said consolidating the staff and premises of the two organizations has saved the industry more than $60,000 annually. "We're not talking about industry organizations going away," he said, "but I think we look at things, and if we can create Memoranda of Understanding to move forward and consolidate some of the activities, we should consider doing that." • www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER JANUARY 15, 2012 9