IRVINE, CA - On Monday, the Western Growers Board of Directors named Vic Smith, President and CEO of JV Smith Companies, as the Chairman of Western Growers.

According to Western Growers, Smith succeeds Bruce Taylor, Chairman and CEO of Taylor Farms California.  Smith will begin his volunteer leadership responsibilities at the end of this week’s annual meeting.

In 1988, Smith co-founded JV Smith Farms with his father, John B. Smith.  Vic is the second generation of his family to join the fresh produce business.  His father started Skyview Cooling in Yuma, Arizona in 1970.

In his education, Vic studied economics and business law at the University of Colorado from 1970-1974 and finance at Arizona State University in 1975.  He has overseen all of the companies’ farming, packing and cooling operations since 1991, which includes 15,000 acres of vegetable production annually.

The Western Growers Board has also selected Larry Cox, Owner of Lawrence Cox Ranches, Brawley, California, as Senior Vice Chairman; Samuel Duda, Vice President of Duda Farm Fresh Foods, Inc., Salinas, California, as Vice Chairman; Garland Reiter, CEO of Reiter Affiliated Companies, Santa Barbara, California, as Secretary; and Carol Chandler, Partner at Chandler Farms, Selma, California, as Treasurer. 

Western Growers also welcomed the newest board members: 

• Mike Antle, Tanimura and Antle, Salinas, California
• Brian Bertelsen, Cove Ranch Management, Reedley, California
• George Boskovich, III, Boskovich Farms, Oxnard, California
• Howard Roeder, Dole Fresh Vegetables, Monterey, California
• John McPike, Cal Giant, Santa Maria
• Jack Vessey, Vessey and Company Inc., Holtville, California
• Stuart Woolf, Woolf Enterprises, Fresno, California

Congratulations to everyone selected!

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