www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER DECEMBER 2016 51
2008
Ralph Broetje
PA S CO, WA
2007
Mike and Laura Mrachek
WE NA TCHE E, WA
1998
Fleming family
ORONDO/QUINCY, WA
1997
Bruce Allen
YA K IM A , WA
on-site medical clinics for employees and their families
at its main warehouse in Selah, Washington, and about
a half-dozen orchards across the state, including some
places that are "pretty far flung, where people just don't
have access to health care," Mark said.
Zirkle Fruit also created a scholarship at the Pacific
Northwest University of Health Sciences to assist stu-
dents who are committed to providing medical services
in rural areas and funds college scholarships through the
Washington Apple Education Foundation.
That culture, along with growing high-quality fruit,
forms the basis for the company's success, Mark said.
"It's not the shiny new technology that anybody can
buy, it's not the high-tech orchards that, truthfully, any
investment company could put in — and they are —
it's the people that run them. And that goes from the
orchards to packing to administration to sales," he said.
"The success and growth of our company is tied to peo-
ple. Even though some people don't work here anymore
or passed on, they are the legacy of the company."
•
Mark Zirkle talks with Noe Castillo above one of the apple
packing lines at Zirkle's Selah packing facility.
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