CPMA appoints first woman to role of chairman
CPMA appoints first woman to role of chairman
CALGARY, AB -- It may have taken 83 years, but the Canadian Produce Marketing Association has its first woman in the position of chairman.
Beth Pattillo, who has been in the agriculture industry for over 20 years in various capacities, has worked at King's of Nova Scotia for the past 10 years and currently serves as its director of marketing. King's is the marketing arm for five grower-shippers in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley that grow approximately 20 commodities that are shipped primarily in eastern Canada from Quebec eastward. She has also been a CPMA director for the past 10 years.
"When I came on board with produce industry, there were very few women, but there is no question that has changed over the past 10 years," Ms. Pattillo told The Produce News. "A lot more women are coming up through the ranks, and I want to show them that if you prove yourself, it is possible that you can get to the top. Part of my role is mentoring young women and showing them the ropes and helping them to avoid the pitfalls along the way."
Ms. Pattillo said that she plans to work on several major initiatives during her year as chairman, including "taking this whole push toward healthy eating and the 5 to 10 A Day program and trying to leverage more funds from the industry and government to support it. It's a great program with lots of awareness, and now we need to see how we can leverage this to take it to the next level."
She said that she is "looking forward to continuing to build alliances with other associations in other countries to work on the things that create trade barriers between Canada and the United States and Canada and Mexico. We need to find out how we can get people around the table to talk about the issues and find effective solutions. The U.S. has a set of things they are doing, Canada has a set of things they are doing, and we need to determine how do we get people together to talk about the things that are most important and how we can easily move product both north and south. I want to work with the PMA in defining what sustainability means so they aren't developing a definition and we aren't developing a definition, but together developing one definition for the industry.
"This is a tremendous industry, and it is the people that make this industry so special," she continued. "As hard as they work -- and you have to work hard to be in it -- they are still willing to participate and work with one another to find solutions for the entire industry. The CPMA is like a big family, and we all know one another, and keeping that special feeling that CPMA has, that friendly feeling where people can sit and talk and chat and network, is very important to me."
Beth Pattillo, who has been in the agriculture industry for over 20 years in various capacities, has worked at King's of Nova Scotia for the past 10 years and currently serves as its director of marketing. King's is the marketing arm for five grower-shippers in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley that grow approximately 20 commodities that are shipped primarily in eastern Canada from Quebec eastward. She has also been a CPMA director for the past 10 years.
"When I came on board with produce industry, there were very few women, but there is no question that has changed over the past 10 years," Ms. Pattillo told The Produce News. "A lot more women are coming up through the ranks, and I want to show them that if you prove yourself, it is possible that you can get to the top. Part of my role is mentoring young women and showing them the ropes and helping them to avoid the pitfalls along the way."
Ms. Pattillo said that she plans to work on several major initiatives during her year as chairman, including "taking this whole push toward healthy eating and the 5 to 10 A Day program and trying to leverage more funds from the industry and government to support it. It's a great program with lots of awareness, and now we need to see how we can leverage this to take it to the next level."
She said that she is "looking forward to continuing to build alliances with other associations in other countries to work on the things that create trade barriers between Canada and the United States and Canada and Mexico. We need to find out how we can get people around the table to talk about the issues and find effective solutions. The U.S. has a set of things they are doing, Canada has a set of things they are doing, and we need to determine how do we get people together to talk about the things that are most important and how we can easily move product both north and south. I want to work with the PMA in defining what sustainability means so they aren't developing a definition and we aren't developing a definition, but together developing one definition for the industry.
"This is a tremendous industry, and it is the people that make this industry so special," she continued. "As hard as they work -- and you have to work hard to be in it -- they are still willing to participate and work with one another to find solutions for the entire industry. The CPMA is like a big family, and we all know one another, and keeping that special feeling that CPMA has, that friendly feeling where people can sit and talk and chat and network, is very important to me."
