Idaho potato industry losing a champion to retirement
Idaho potato industry losing a champion to retirement
The Idaho Grower Shipper Association, headquartered in Idaho Falls, ID, is a voluntary trade association that has been representing the fresh potato shippers and grower-shippers of Idaho for 80 years. For the last 28 of those years, Dave Smith has been at the helm of the organization, but he is retiring Aug. 29, and Travis Blacker, formerly with Dickinison Frozen Foods, has been hired to be the new president of IGSA.
"I don't know whether I can say enough good about Dave," commented Bob Wilkins, chief executive officer of GPOD of Idaho in Shelly, ID. "I would almost say Dave is the backbone of the Idaho fresh potato industry. Through the association, he held us all together, all working in one direction," that direction being "the movement of the Idaho fresh potatoes to the market."
Mr. Smith started with the IGSA in 1980. "Prior to that," he told The Produce News, "I had been in the association management business since 1967."
Born and raised in neighboring Utah and educated at Brigham Young University, Mr. Smith "spent a short period of time in the retail business" before getting into the association business. "I went to work for the National Wool Growers Association," then later for the Montana Wool Growers Association and then for the Society for Range Management before moving to Idaho in to take the post at IGSA.
"So my entire professional career has been in the field of managing not-for- profit, agriculture-type trade associations," he said.
IGSA began "primarily as an organization that represented people in the fresh-pack business only," and now 95 percent of the members "are integrated vertically" from growing through packing of potatoes, "so they are really grower-shippers," he said.
The organization, which evolved out of a couple of other associations in 1928, was originally formed "primarily as a traffic association back in the days of regulation of the railroads," Mr. Smith said in an earlier interview. It is now involved with a broad range of issues affecting potato grower-shippers in Idaho in four specific areas: legislation both on a national and state level; regulatory issues on a state and national level; trade issues as they affect commerce for Idaho potatoes internationally; and transportation.
"We continue to be actively and extensively involved in legislative, regulatory and transportation issues," he told The Produce News Aug. 18. "We work in close cooperation and in coalitions with the United Fresh Produce Association in Washington, DC, as well as with the National Potato Council in Washington, DC, and other organizations as well. We have worked together on the farm bill and food-safety issues, country-of-origin labeling issues, and any number of other concerns to our membership."
Over the association's 80 years of existence, he said, it "has evolved from a purely traffic association to a full-service trade association that is representing our people in many different areas of concern to the business." Much of that change has come about during Mr. Smith's tenure.
"I think our industry has changed radically in the last 25 years," he said. "When I came to work, there was no such thing as a computer," and the fax machine was in its infancy. The arrival of the electronic age has "changed the business radically"
There have been other changes within the industry as well. "We are known for our quality, and we are the leaders in the industry worldwide for what we are and who we are, and we are expanding that now," Mr. Smith said. Idaho is "not just a brown potato state anymore. We are producing more varieties, and we are being very successful at it."
The industry has also expanded its export business. In particular, "our business in Mexico has been growing, even though it has been restricted by the trade barriers in Mexico and people have been doing good jobs there. It has been my great pleasure to see that change."
Mr. Smith said that it feels "a bit melancholy for me to be stepping out of this chair after 28 years to leave and retire and know that I am not going to be there every day because I have enjoyed every second of this. It has been a great experience for me meeting people all over the country and working with them and building and working with coalitions."
While it "won't be easy to leave," he said, "I've got many, many things to do." Among them are "things with my family that are going to take some greater priorities, and opportunities for service in my church." He will also "continue to have a heavy responsibility with the young people up at BYU Idaho [in Rexburg], which I enjoy and will continue to enjoy for a little while longer before my term of service there is finished."
"One of the most-valued parts of [Mr. Smith's] tenure [at IGSA] is ... the respect that he has in the industry from the political arena to all the different segments of the industry," said Alan Taylor, president of Taylor Produce in Rigby, ID. "He got involved, he knew the people. He knew the players. He had a tremendous amount of respect from the universities all over. He has really done a great job of representing us. To me, that was his biggest asset."
Mr. Smith always looked out for the interests of the shippers and the growers, Mr. Taylor said. Whether he was dealing with freight issues or chemical issues, "he was always ... trying to make sure that Idaho was represented well." That was particularly important "in the freight category, since we are located away from the major metropolitan markets."
Mr. Smith's "ability to pull off the convention every year at Sun Valley that we are all so accustomed to going to and enjoying so much" was another of his achievements, Mr. Taylor added. "He was a master at that, and we all appreciate his efforts there. We just all have a lot of respect for him. We are going to miss him."
Ray Clements, president of Idaho Fresh Produce Inc. in Idaho Falls, said, "I think Dave came in as a breath of fresh air to the industry and put his whole heart and soul into it for 28 years. For the most part, Dave tried to listen to the industry and help the industry all he could help. Dave always had the industry in mind, I don't think he was self-serving in any way."
"At the Idaho Potato Commission, we think very highly of Dave Smith," said Frank Muir, president of the commission. "He has served the Idaho potato industry very well for the past 28 years, especially in the areas of legislative and transportation issues. I have worked with Dave for the past five years, and my observation is he has the utmost respect of the other industry members here in Idaho, and he will always be considered a great friend of the Idaho potato industry. We wish Dave and [his wife] Elaine all the best in a very well-deserved retirement as they visit their grandkids all over the world."
"Dave has been part of the industry for as long as most people can remember," said Pat Kole, vice president of legal affairs for the commission. "And throughout that period of time, he has distinguished himself through his leadership, his kindness and his dedication to not only the industry but the people who make up the industry. It is just hard to imagine coming to work and not picking up the phone and calling Dave."
Mr. Smith's accomplishments have been so numerous that "it is hard to narrow it down," Mr. Kole said. "Dave has been a catalyst for change, an absolute bulwark of a person insisting on quality. He has helped set the bar high and keep it there, and his manner in doing so has always been to respect people for who and what they are and to engage them so that they feel that it is their job to be a better person themselves."
"Imagine surviving a different chairman every year and still being sought out for his opinions," said Don Odiorne, vice president of foodservice for the IPC. "Dave has the remarkable ability to listen, to work out problems and approach the topics of the day in a way that nearly everyone feels addressed their issues. He always brought more to the table than was expected. Often it covered something educational on management style that he had run across; sometimes it was the underlying answer to why an issue had more complexity to it than initially meets the eye. Dave's efforts in the area of transportation, food safety, labeling of Idaho-specific product are all important subjects that he has continued to work on."
Mr. Odiorne added, "I personally will miss seeing his face out in the audience at many a meeting, as well as his dry sense of humor."
From the perspective of a relative newcomer to the industry, Seth Pemsler, vice president of retail and international for the IPC, said, "Dave was a great mentor who provided great guidance and input."
Mr. Smith was instrumental in "helping IPC become better aligned "with the shippers in Idaho," Mr. Pemsler said. Commission representatives now go on an annual "whistle-stop tour" to meet with shippers. "Dave was part of developing the process of doing this. I would say that that is probably the single most successful thing" that has been done to help the shipping community better understand and feel more comfortable with "what the IPC does."
Mr. Smith "represented the industry as a whole through our association, working in traffic problems, labor problems, any problem that might come before any of us as shippers," said Bob Wilkins. "Dave worked to resolve those problems for the shippers as a whole, not just individually."
On a lighter note, Mr. Wilkins added, "I think the worst thing I can say about Dave is that he stood on the wrong side of the golf ball. I still give him a hard time every now and then about that."
Mr. Wilkins said that he has golfed with Mr. Smith "at Sun Valley and many times in the Idaho Falls area. He and Elaine are just super terrific people. We have sat at dinner with them several different times throughout the years and just really do enjoy their company. They have a wonderful family."
Mr. Smith "has been a very busy man, with the association, with scouts, with church," Mr. Wilkins added. "I don't know how he has done it all. I don't know where he found the time. Every time he undertook a job or a mission, he did it to the fullest."
Mr. Blacker, who will be the new president of IGSA upon Mr. Smith's retirement, was born in Twin Falls, ID, and grew up in Rock Springs, WY. He earned an associate degree from Ricks College (now BYU Idaho) in Rexburg and a bachelor's degree in business management from Idaho State University.
"I have been in the potato business for almost 15 years," Mr. Blacker said. He started with the SunGlo processing division, which was acquired by the NorSun Group and became Dickinson Frozen Foods. Mr. Blacker "moved up into different management positions" in the company and had been in supply chain management for the last four or five years before applying for his new position at IGSA.
"I don't know whether I can say enough good about Dave," commented Bob Wilkins, chief executive officer of GPOD of Idaho in Shelly, ID. "I would almost say Dave is the backbone of the Idaho fresh potato industry. Through the association, he held us all together, all working in one direction," that direction being "the movement of the Idaho fresh potatoes to the market."
Mr. Smith started with the IGSA in 1980. "Prior to that," he told The Produce News, "I had been in the association management business since 1967."
Born and raised in neighboring Utah and educated at Brigham Young University, Mr. Smith "spent a short period of time in the retail business" before getting into the association business. "I went to work for the National Wool Growers Association," then later for the Montana Wool Growers Association and then for the Society for Range Management before moving to Idaho in to take the post at IGSA.
"So my entire professional career has been in the field of managing not-for- profit, agriculture-type trade associations," he said.
IGSA began "primarily as an organization that represented people in the fresh-pack business only," and now 95 percent of the members "are integrated vertically" from growing through packing of potatoes, "so they are really grower-shippers," he said.
The organization, which evolved out of a couple of other associations in 1928, was originally formed "primarily as a traffic association back in the days of regulation of the railroads," Mr. Smith said in an earlier interview. It is now involved with a broad range of issues affecting potato grower-shippers in Idaho in four specific areas: legislation both on a national and state level; regulatory issues on a state and national level; trade issues as they affect commerce for Idaho potatoes internationally; and transportation.
"We continue to be actively and extensively involved in legislative, regulatory and transportation issues," he told The Produce News Aug. 18. "We work in close cooperation and in coalitions with the United Fresh Produce Association in Washington, DC, as well as with the National Potato Council in Washington, DC, and other organizations as well. We have worked together on the farm bill and food-safety issues, country-of-origin labeling issues, and any number of other concerns to our membership."
Over the association's 80 years of existence, he said, it "has evolved from a purely traffic association to a full-service trade association that is representing our people in many different areas of concern to the business." Much of that change has come about during Mr. Smith's tenure.
"I think our industry has changed radically in the last 25 years," he said. "When I came to work, there was no such thing as a computer," and the fax machine was in its infancy. The arrival of the electronic age has "changed the business radically"
There have been other changes within the industry as well. "We are known for our quality, and we are the leaders in the industry worldwide for what we are and who we are, and we are expanding that now," Mr. Smith said. Idaho is "not just a brown potato state anymore. We are producing more varieties, and we are being very successful at it."
The industry has also expanded its export business. In particular, "our business in Mexico has been growing, even though it has been restricted by the trade barriers in Mexico and people have been doing good jobs there. It has been my great pleasure to see that change."
Mr. Smith said that it feels "a bit melancholy for me to be stepping out of this chair after 28 years to leave and retire and know that I am not going to be there every day because I have enjoyed every second of this. It has been a great experience for me meeting people all over the country and working with them and building and working with coalitions."
While it "won't be easy to leave," he said, "I've got many, many things to do." Among them are "things with my family that are going to take some greater priorities, and opportunities for service in my church." He will also "continue to have a heavy responsibility with the young people up at BYU Idaho [in Rexburg], which I enjoy and will continue to enjoy for a little while longer before my term of service there is finished."
"One of the most-valued parts of [Mr. Smith's] tenure [at IGSA] is ... the respect that he has in the industry from the political arena to all the different segments of the industry," said Alan Taylor, president of Taylor Produce in Rigby, ID. "He got involved, he knew the people. He knew the players. He had a tremendous amount of respect from the universities all over. He has really done a great job of representing us. To me, that was his biggest asset."
Mr. Smith always looked out for the interests of the shippers and the growers, Mr. Taylor said. Whether he was dealing with freight issues or chemical issues, "he was always ... trying to make sure that Idaho was represented well." That was particularly important "in the freight category, since we are located away from the major metropolitan markets."
Mr. Smith's "ability to pull off the convention every year at Sun Valley that we are all so accustomed to going to and enjoying so much" was another of his achievements, Mr. Taylor added. "He was a master at that, and we all appreciate his efforts there. We just all have a lot of respect for him. We are going to miss him."
Ray Clements, president of Idaho Fresh Produce Inc. in Idaho Falls, said, "I think Dave came in as a breath of fresh air to the industry and put his whole heart and soul into it for 28 years. For the most part, Dave tried to listen to the industry and help the industry all he could help. Dave always had the industry in mind, I don't think he was self-serving in any way."
"At the Idaho Potato Commission, we think very highly of Dave Smith," said Frank Muir, president of the commission. "He has served the Idaho potato industry very well for the past 28 years, especially in the areas of legislative and transportation issues. I have worked with Dave for the past five years, and my observation is he has the utmost respect of the other industry members here in Idaho, and he will always be considered a great friend of the Idaho potato industry. We wish Dave and [his wife] Elaine all the best in a very well-deserved retirement as they visit their grandkids all over the world."
"Dave has been part of the industry for as long as most people can remember," said Pat Kole, vice president of legal affairs for the commission. "And throughout that period of time, he has distinguished himself through his leadership, his kindness and his dedication to not only the industry but the people who make up the industry. It is just hard to imagine coming to work and not picking up the phone and calling Dave."
Mr. Smith's accomplishments have been so numerous that "it is hard to narrow it down," Mr. Kole said. "Dave has been a catalyst for change, an absolute bulwark of a person insisting on quality. He has helped set the bar high and keep it there, and his manner in doing so has always been to respect people for who and what they are and to engage them so that they feel that it is their job to be a better person themselves."
"Imagine surviving a different chairman every year and still being sought out for his opinions," said Don Odiorne, vice president of foodservice for the IPC. "Dave has the remarkable ability to listen, to work out problems and approach the topics of the day in a way that nearly everyone feels addressed their issues. He always brought more to the table than was expected. Often it covered something educational on management style that he had run across; sometimes it was the underlying answer to why an issue had more complexity to it than initially meets the eye. Dave's efforts in the area of transportation, food safety, labeling of Idaho-specific product are all important subjects that he has continued to work on."
Mr. Odiorne added, "I personally will miss seeing his face out in the audience at many a meeting, as well as his dry sense of humor."
From the perspective of a relative newcomer to the industry, Seth Pemsler, vice president of retail and international for the IPC, said, "Dave was a great mentor who provided great guidance and input."
Mr. Smith was instrumental in "helping IPC become better aligned "with the shippers in Idaho," Mr. Pemsler said. Commission representatives now go on an annual "whistle-stop tour" to meet with shippers. "Dave was part of developing the process of doing this. I would say that that is probably the single most successful thing" that has been done to help the shipping community better understand and feel more comfortable with "what the IPC does."
Mr. Smith "represented the industry as a whole through our association, working in traffic problems, labor problems, any problem that might come before any of us as shippers," said Bob Wilkins. "Dave worked to resolve those problems for the shippers as a whole, not just individually."
On a lighter note, Mr. Wilkins added, "I think the worst thing I can say about Dave is that he stood on the wrong side of the golf ball. I still give him a hard time every now and then about that."
Mr. Wilkins said that he has golfed with Mr. Smith "at Sun Valley and many times in the Idaho Falls area. He and Elaine are just super terrific people. We have sat at dinner with them several different times throughout the years and just really do enjoy their company. They have a wonderful family."
Mr. Smith "has been a very busy man, with the association, with scouts, with church," Mr. Wilkins added. "I don't know how he has done it all. I don't know where he found the time. Every time he undertook a job or a mission, he did it to the fullest."
Mr. Blacker, who will be the new president of IGSA upon Mr. Smith's retirement, was born in Twin Falls, ID, and grew up in Rock Springs, WY. He earned an associate degree from Ricks College (now BYU Idaho) in Rexburg and a bachelor's degree in business management from Idaho State University.
"I have been in the potato business for almost 15 years," Mr. Blacker said. He started with the SunGlo processing division, which was acquired by the NorSun Group and became Dickinson Frozen Foods. Mr. Blacker "moved up into different management positions" in the company and had been in supply chain management for the last four or five years before applying for his new position at IGSA.
