LODI, CA -- In the 1980s, Chiles Wilson and Brian Machado took over ownership of All State Packers. They built their business growing and packing Bartlett pears and Bing cherries, primarily in the Sacramento River and Lodi regions of California.

Steve Daum of Floralife and Jim Corby of Food Lion have been named co- chairmen of a new Produce Marketing Association task force to look at ways to "engage and serve PMA's floral community," according to Megan Miller, PMA's public relations manager.

Names of committee members were posted on the association's web site, www.pma.com, Jan. 28.

Mr. Daum is director of the Superflor division of Floralife, which provides post-harvest care and flower food products to the floral industry. He is based in Parkland, FL.

Eric Viramontes, chief executive officer of Asociación Mexicana de Horticultura Protegida, a membership organization comprised of Mexican greenhouse growers and known commonly as AMHPAC, told The Produce News that growers there today use state-of-the-art protected agriculture technology, and that the rest of the world is paying attention.

WASHINGTON -- The United Fresh Foundation, through its Center for Leadership Excellence, has announced the introduction of a national produce industry compensation tool to assist industry members in providing critical compensation benchmarks.

George Wooten, president of Wayne E. Bailey Produce Co. in Chadbourn, NC, is known to say, “Sweet potatoes have been around since the dawn of man, and Wayne E. Bailey has been in existence since 1935.”

The company’s success in its comparatively short history is owed to a bit of being in the right place at the right time and the forward-thinking leadership of several generations.

Today, the family-run operation is recognized as a leading sweet potato producer, processor and shipper to customers in the United States and abroad.

New ideas pop up all around us, especially in the way we do business. Some start out unexpectedly and become trendy. These affect business habits and eventually revolutionize an industry.