Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/635697
22 FEBRUARY 15, 2016 Good Fruit Grower www.goodfruit.com As a former banker, Gibson understands the impor- tance of the bottom line. To keep the company "sales- driven," he spends most of his week in the administrative offices, co-located with Washington Fruit and Produce Co. in Yakima. Underwood Fruit and Warehouse Co., the packing entity under the Mt. Adams ownership group, pays a commission to Washington Fruit to sell produce packed in Bingen and Dallesport. The two companies also have a history of common ownership in the past, though are wholly independent now. Gibson didn't initiate the weekly road trips; they are a part of the company's culture. Bloxom drove the same route himself 40 to 50 times a year for 30 years during var- ious management stints and as the company president. He still makes the trip himself once every month or so. "You can be told anything, but it's good to see it, too," Bloxom said. The staff in the Gorge appreciates Gibson's visits, said Brad Pickering, assistant superintendent of the company's pear and apple packing facilities in Bingen. "Having him here to see the challenges of a piece of equipment we have ... or staffing, it just makes it eas- ier," he said. Employees, some of whom represent the third gener- ation with the company, smile and say hello during his plant tours in Bingen. One woman even offered to let him take over after he inspected a pear in her packing tub. He smiled and said, "No thanks." Taking growers out to lunch is part of his routine, too. About 40 percent of the company's pears come through custom pack contracts with outside growers. While waiting to order at the China Gorge Restaurant in Hood River, Gibson showed grower Ken Goe some pear market information on his smart phone and dis- cussed the possibility of setting up an H-2A training session for other Hood River-area growers. For his part, Gibson also likes the trips. "I do enjoy this," he said. "This is the good part of the job." But there are plenty of unpleasant parts. He had to lay off people in 2012 to keep the company's pear canning facility solvent enough to attract a buyer — Seneca Foods Corp. — in 2013. The company opted out of a marketing cooperative in the late 1990s that made administrators, including himself, unpopular with some highly respected growers. Meanwhile, part of his job is to ask cost-conscious questions about efficiencies. "That might be a little bit unpopular," he said. Traveling the Gorge Simply reaching the orchards at the Mt. Adams prop- erty in January was an adventure. The company has 1,600 acres of apple, pear and cherry orchards in various spots throughout the Columbia River Gorge. But the "crown jewel" blocks mingle with fir trees high in the Cascade Mountains, 14 miles from White Salmon along the Glenwood Highway. The highest plots of the 800-acre ranch stand at an elevation of 1,900 feet. About 30 families, all connected to the company, live in homes that would resemble rustic mountain cabins if not for the Mt. Adams office across the parking lot. With Tim Pitz, the assistant superintendent, riding shotgun, Gibson motored through 2 feet of snow to inspect steep leader pear trellises, wading through the powder to get a close look at the high-density trainings planted at 6.5 feet-by-13 feet. Mike Sandlin, the superin- tendent, and Antonio Quintana, another assistant super- intendent, caught up a few minutes later after getting stuck at a bend in the road. They compared the growth on young trees trel- lised with two leaders and three leaders right next to Gibson inspects a pear on the company's packing line in Bingen, Washington. "You grow trees, but you're also growing people." —Don Gibson Above: Don Gibson, president of Mt. Adams Orchards Corp., evaluates pear trellises with Tim Pitz, assistant superintendent, at the company's orchards in White Salmon, Washington. Gibson makes it a point to visit employees, orchards and facilities during his weekly trips from the company's headquarters in Yakima, Washington, through the Columbia River Gorge. Previous page: UFO trellised pears of Mt. Adams Orchards occupy one of the higher-elevation blocks near White Salmon. The orchard runs from 1,100 feet in elevation to 1,900 feet.