Primus Group Inc. announced the sale of its auditing division to Javier Sollozo, the former director of auditing operations at PrimusLabs.

The sale of the auditing division has been in the works for over a year and was prompted by a new requirement of the Global Food Safety Initiative’s Benchmarking Committee in response to Azzule Systems’ request to re-benchmark the PrimusGFS version 2.1.

The deal was reached March 1, and Sollozo’s company, JS Audit Group Inc., will do business as Primus Auditing Operations.

PrimusLabs said in a press release that the sale is a real “land of opportunity” story, the tale of an honest, hard-working immigrant who made good in American business. Sollozo, who was born in Mexico, earned a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1990 from Metropolitan University of Mexico City. That same year he immigrated to Santa Maria, CA, and he began working for PrimusLabs in 1998 as an auditor and market research analyst.

After 10 years of diligence, initiative and professionalism, Primus Group President Robert Stovicek promoted Sollozo to director of auditing operations. Sollozo successfully managed PrimusLabs’ auditing division for the next seven years, before Stovicek approached him about taking the reins of his own company.

The auditing division’s employees will continue working under Sollozo’s guidance as a part of JS Audit Group Inc.

“When confronted with the need to sell the division, there was really only one logical choice, and that was Javier,” Stovicek said in the press release. “His exceptional skills as a manager, an auditing expert, and an individual dedicated to the fresh produce industry are unparalleled. Besides his incredible work ethic, Javier’s success comes from something innate — the ability to treat everyone, from audit customers to buyers to those with whom he works, with off-the-chart commitment to service, along with respect and professionalism. People connect with him because he has such an exceptional ability to make them feel good about themselves.

“It is paramount to Primus that all of its auditing clients are taken care of and do not have interruptions to their services,” Stovicek added in the press release. “We know our customers are in extremely capable hands. Primus Group takes great satisfaction in the fact that it will be delivering its auditing clients to a skilled, dedicated and proven group of professionals who already serve their needs. PrimusLabs also views this ownership change as an opportunity for Primus Auditing Operations to stake its claim to Primus’ long history of specialization in assessments of fresh produce operations. The company is confident that this will be a smooth transition that will ensure stability and engender confidence in the services that the new group provides.”