The Florida Citrus Commission in Lakeland, FL, hired Ken Keck on May 17 to serve as executive director of the Florida Department of Citrus.

Mr. Keck replaces Dan Gunter, who resigned last month to take an executive position with a private agribusiness company.

Dole Fresh Vegetables is moving its offices from Salinas, CA, to Monterey, CA, beginning this summer. Dole will shift employees from 639 S. Sanborn Road in Salinas to 2959 Monterey-Salinas Highway in Monterey. The move will place about 180 office employees under one roof instead of the current setup at the Dole site in Salinas with multiple buildings.

Dole Fresh Vegetables is a division of Dole Food Co. Inc.


Red Blossom Farms adds growers

After nearly four years as public relations manager for the Pear Bureau Northwest, Laura Wieking announced in mid-May that she is leaving the position, effective June 2.

Ms. Wieking joined the bureau as its PR manager in September 2002, and she said that the decision to depart the organization was a difficult one.

Her new job, which will be part time, is communications manager with the Credit Union Association of Oregon. She said that logistics factored into the move, and the CUAO offices are a shorter commute from her home and her family.

The Idaho Potato Commission's recent advertising campaign in the consumer, retail and foodservice arenas in both print and television mediums has been awarded four prestigious "Best of NAMA" awards (one national, three regional). The Santa Barbara, CA-based National Agri-Marketing Association's Best of NAMA awards competition recognizes excellence in creative agri-marketing communications and is a hallmark of distinction in the agricultural advertising industry.

A quarantine on shipping Florida-grown citrus to other citrus-producing states is the last thing the already-distressed industry needs -- but that is exactly what it is potentially facing.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is contemplating placing the state under a canker quarantine, thereby preventing shipments to other citrus-producing states in the coming season.

The consumer press has labeled it a "food fight," but produce industry representatives say there is no fundamental disagreement about regulations concerning the allocation of federally funded specialty crop block grants.