Stephen Kaczor announced Aug. 18 that he has left his position as director of marketing for Burlingame, CA-based Splendid Products, a shipper of citrus and a distributor of tropical fruit such as mangos and limes.

The company handles a variety of fruits and vegetables.

Cincinnati-based Pro Mach Inc., a leading integrated packaging solutions provider for customers worldwide, has announced the appointment of Mark W. Anderson as president and chief operating officer.

Mr. Anderson will lead operations of Pro Mach's three business units: primary packaging, end-of-line packaging, and identification and tracking. He brings extensive management, marketing and engineering experience in the manufacturing industry to Pro Mach. Mr. Anderson, whose appointment is effective immediately, reports to John W. Paxton Sr., Pro Mach chairman and CEO.

The Hass Avocado Board in Irvine, CA, which conducts generic avocado marketing for foreign and domestic suppliers, has approved a proactive diversity policy to assure that the composition of the board reflects the demographics of the avocado industry while supporting the board's diversity goals.

Charles H. Bronson, Florida's commissioner of agriculture, will visit the Homestead area of southern Florida Tuesday, Aug. 30, to view the damage that Hurricane Katrina wreaked on the states nursery industry.

"The strong winds, heavy rain and loss of power have combined to wallop our nursery industry in south Florida," said Commissioner Bronson. We will do all that we can to assist our growers.

August in Pennsylvania can only mean one thing: sweet, juicy and delicious tree-ripened peaches.

Wal-Mart and Rice Fruit Co. in Gardners, PA, teamed up for the second year in a row to recognize Pennsylvania's peach industry with a giant display of Pennsylvania peaches in both the Carlisle, PA, and Chambersburg, PA, supercenters.

The peach displays go hand-in-hand with Wal-Marts Store of the Community effort, which places products that customers want to buy in the stores  meaning more local produce, like the Pennsylvania-grown peaches featured in this promotion.

The Louisiana Sweet Potato Commission in Baton Rouge, LA, and Louisiana Cookin' magazine have concluded the first Sweet Rewards Recipe Contest for canned sweet potatoes, naming four first-place winning recipes and one grand-prize winner. Over 400 entries from 38 states nationwide were narrowed down to 10 recipes in four categories: soups, sides, desserts, and breads and breakfast. These 10 dishes were then prepared for judging by students in the Culinary Arts program at Delgado Community College in New Orleans.