Members of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas (FPAA) held their annual meeting on May 12, 2015 in Nogales, Arizona, markeing an opportunity for members to discuss key actions from the previous year with detailed updates from the FPAA’s president, chairman, and staff.
This year the FPAA was also honoured to have Mark Killian, the newly appointed director of the Arizona Department of Agriculture, as the keynote speaker.
Killian stressed the importance of agriculture in Arizona and his department’s commitment to working with the Nogales produce industry to keep Arizona competitive and to support growth.
FPAA president Lance Jungmeyer talked about a variety of activities and opportunities that the association has been working on in the past year, including important infrastructure improvements ranging from State Route 189 to the broader vision of Interstate 11, Mexico and Washington, DC advocacy, and more.
“We are in the business of moving fresh produce across the border. In order to accommodate the kind of growth that we foresee, the state needs a strategic plan to address the key routes that the produce traverses on,” Jungmeyer said.
The FPAA chairman, Matt Mandel of SunFed, talked to the members about change, innovation, and moving forward in the industry.
“Our membership continues to work on the balance between a proud history and constantly reinventing itself,' he said. 'We must not lose focus on the core business that has helped us arrive here today and yet keep our eyes on the horizon for a variety of new technologies and fresh takes on old technologies which will help catapult us into the future.”
