GREENSBORO, NC -- The Southeast Produce Council's annual fall conference, held here Sept. 27-29, drew more attendees than ever before, who heard about the latest industry trends, opportunities and challenges during an informative Supply Chain Summit and enjoyed the many fun-filled activities during the course of the three-day event.

The Idaho Potato Commission announced the appointment of Kent Beesley as retail promotions director for the West.

Mr. Beesley will be responsible for educating retailers on how Idaho potatoes can help boost profits in the potato category in grocery stores and other venues where potatoes are sold. His territory covers Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

Watsonville, CA-based California Giant Berry Farms has expanded its entire family of berries both in acreage and with regard to seasonality. This latest expansion is a direct result of customer demand for a complete berry line on a year-round basis.

A federal judge will rule by Oct. 10 on whether the Social Security Administration should send no match notices as part of the Bush administration's crackdown on undocumented workers.

Throughout its 70-year history, the Idaho Potato Commission has always been on "the cutting edge of media technology" in its advertising and promotional efforts, said Frank Muir, the commission's president.

"We were the first commodity organization to be in print advertising and then radio advertising and then TV advertising. We have been on the air in TV since [about] 1950."

The 2007-08 school year represents a major milestone in Monterey Mushrooms' ongoing scholarship program: over $1 million in educational scholarships have been awarded to the children of Monterey Mushrooms employees.

Initiated 15 years ago, this program was the vision of Shah Kazemi, president of Monterey Mushrooms, and Carl Victor Fields, the former vice president of marketing, who died in April 2004.