DRC loses two founding members of its board of directors
DRC loses two founding members of its board of directors
The Dispute Resolution Corp. recently lost two of the founding members of its 12-person board of directors with the departure of Alain Par? of Metro Richelieu Inc. and Reggie Brown of the Florida Tomato Committee.
Mr. Par? told The Produce News about his resignation on March 15 after finishing a conference call with other DRC board members and its president and chief executive officer, Stephen Whitney.
"I was part of the task force to build the DRC 10 years ago and I am sad to leave," Mr. Par? said.
Since his promotion in late-2006, Mr. Par? has been overseeing the continued integration of produce operations between Metro and The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. of Canada, which Metro acquired in 2005, that requires him to be in Toronto three days a week and Montreal for two days, limiting the time he has available to devote to the DRC.
"I have seen [the DRC] grow into a very strong organization and I have learned a lot," he said. "It is good to be part of the decision-making process. While I liked being involved, I have less and less time."
"Alain has been a tremendous asset to the organization and we are going to miss him," Mr. Whitney said. "We're sorry to see him pull back, but I know he has a lot on his plate."
Mr. Whitney continued, "Alain has always been very vocal about the need for the DRC to be more than just a dispute settlement group. One of the things that he really brought to the board was that he wanted the organization to be actively promoting fair and ethical trade by holding members to a higher set of standards. One of the other significant contributions he made -- and he made a number of them -- was that he was one of the early proponents of the DRC looking at adding transportation to the mix."
Mr. Whitney said that the DRC was "fortunate to be able to convince Larry Kieswetter to stand for nomination to go before the annual meeting on the 20th of April in Mexico. One of the key things for our group is to make sure that we have a balance on our board representing the various interests across the spectrum, and that will maintain a strong retail presence on the board, which is very important to us. Loblaws was one of the founding members of the DRC that joined before the organization opened its doors to handle disputes. He's always been very active and taken a keen interest in the organization and has been very supportive. We'd meet Larry because he serves on the CPMA board and we would have occasion to see him at many events during the course of the year, and we're looking forward to him coming on."
Mr. Whitney said that Mr. Brown's involvement with the DRC goes back to the mid-1970s, and he was one of the first three individuals appointed by the U.S. secretary of agriculture to work with the U.S., Canadian and Mexican produce industries and their respective governments to help create the DRC. "Reggie is someone we'll all miss as well," Mr. Whitney said. "He's made some very fine contributions, and when we were exploring how to do things, he kept us on track, kept us focused. As with any organization, as you start up, you need to focus every once in a while and say, 'Why were we created?' We were here to fill a niche, and Reggie has been instrumental in making sure we didn't stray into areas we shouldn't be involved with, and he was very quick to point that out when he felt we were getting off track."
Mr. Whitney said that Danny Raulerson, the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association's director of marketing and membership, was nominated to replace Mr. Brown on the board. He also noted that two of the DRC's current board members, Martin Desrochers of HydroSerre Mirabel Inc. and John McClung of the Texas Produce Association, are at the end of their three-year terms. Both will be up for re-election at its annual meeting as well.
Mr. Par? told The Produce News about his resignation on March 15 after finishing a conference call with other DRC board members and its president and chief executive officer, Stephen Whitney.
"I was part of the task force to build the DRC 10 years ago and I am sad to leave," Mr. Par? said.
Since his promotion in late-2006, Mr. Par? has been overseeing the continued integration of produce operations between Metro and The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. of Canada, which Metro acquired in 2005, that requires him to be in Toronto three days a week and Montreal for two days, limiting the time he has available to devote to the DRC.
"I have seen [the DRC] grow into a very strong organization and I have learned a lot," he said. "It is good to be part of the decision-making process. While I liked being involved, I have less and less time."
"Alain has been a tremendous asset to the organization and we are going to miss him," Mr. Whitney said. "We're sorry to see him pull back, but I know he has a lot on his plate."
Mr. Whitney continued, "Alain has always been very vocal about the need for the DRC to be more than just a dispute settlement group. One of the things that he really brought to the board was that he wanted the organization to be actively promoting fair and ethical trade by holding members to a higher set of standards. One of the other significant contributions he made -- and he made a number of them -- was that he was one of the early proponents of the DRC looking at adding transportation to the mix."
Mr. Whitney said that the DRC was "fortunate to be able to convince Larry Kieswetter to stand for nomination to go before the annual meeting on the 20th of April in Mexico. One of the key things for our group is to make sure that we have a balance on our board representing the various interests across the spectrum, and that will maintain a strong retail presence on the board, which is very important to us. Loblaws was one of the founding members of the DRC that joined before the organization opened its doors to handle disputes. He's always been very active and taken a keen interest in the organization and has been very supportive. We'd meet Larry because he serves on the CPMA board and we would have occasion to see him at many events during the course of the year, and we're looking forward to him coming on."
Mr. Whitney said that Mr. Brown's involvement with the DRC goes back to the mid-1970s, and he was one of the first three individuals appointed by the U.S. secretary of agriculture to work with the U.S., Canadian and Mexican produce industries and their respective governments to help create the DRC. "Reggie is someone we'll all miss as well," Mr. Whitney said. "He's made some very fine contributions, and when we were exploring how to do things, he kept us on track, kept us focused. As with any organization, as you start up, you need to focus every once in a while and say, 'Why were we created?' We were here to fill a niche, and Reggie has been instrumental in making sure we didn't stray into areas we shouldn't be involved with, and he was very quick to point that out when he felt we were getting off track."
Mr. Whitney said that Danny Raulerson, the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association's director of marketing and membership, was nominated to replace Mr. Brown on the board. He also noted that two of the DRC's current board members, Martin Desrochers of HydroSerre Mirabel Inc. and John McClung of the Texas Produce Association, are at the end of their three-year terms. Both will be up for re-election at its annual meeting as well.
