Ray Gilmer to leave United Fresh this month
Ray Gilmer to leave United Fresh this month
WASHINGTON — After 20 years with the food industry, Ray Gilmer, vice president of issues management and communications at the United Fresh Produce Association, is leaving at the end of the month to lead a Maryland college's public relations team.
Gilmer, who joined United Fresh in 2009, first started with the produce industry at the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association in 1994. Between the two jobs, he served as national group communications manager at BASF.
Ray Gilmer
"It's hard walking away from the food industry and United," Gilmer told The Produce News. "I have met so many tremendous people in the industry," he said. "That, along with my relationships with staff," made the decision a tough one."
Starting November, Gilmer will serve as vice president of communications at Rockville, MD-based Montgomery College. The real attraction is to work in a college environment with a mission to help students build their careers, he said.
Gilmer said one of his missions will be to elevate the national reputation of the small Maryland college, and although he does not have an academic background, they wanted someone with a fresh approach who can lead the rebranding effort.
In the meantime, United Fresh is recruiting for a new vice president or director of communications.
Gilmer's departure comes at a bad time for United Fresh, however, as the association lost its communications manager, Lisa Hightower, in March. Hightower left to become rural development director at the American Farm Bureau Federation.