SALINAS SCENE: Jim Mills to leave Mills Family Farms
SALINAS SCENE: Jim Mills to leave Mills Family Farms
Senior Vice President James Mills announced that he will leave family-owned, Salinas-based grower-shipper Mills Family Farms, effective Jan. 1.
With his 50th birthday approaching, Mr. Mills has decided to pursue some personal goals and dreams. He declined to comment on the specifics of those plans other than to say that he and his wife would take a long motor coach trip to Alaska in the near future. He will continue to serve as a consultant to the company.
Along with his brother, Dave, and sister, Susan, Jim Mills represents the second generation to have a long-term involvement in the company. Jim Mills' son, James, and nephew, Chris -- both grandsons of company founder Basil Mills -- are also actively involved in the company.
Mr. Mills began his career in produce from the ground up, working on a lettuce harvesting crew during summer breaks in the early 1970s. He started full time in sales in 1979, being named a company vice president and Iceberg lettuce sales manager in 1991 and then senior vice president in 2003.
For the past 10 years, working closely with his brother, Dave -- also a company senior vice president -- Jim Mills has focused on developing the company's whole leaf lettuce operation.
Mills Family Farms is widely recognized as the industry leader in the whole leaf category - which was virtually unknown a decade ago - supplying fresh, washed whole leaf sandwich and salad lettuce to the foodservice industry and recently introducing the products in consumer-sized retail packs.
"I've been working with my brother for 26 years and he's very dear to me," Dave Mills said, adding that while he'll miss his brother at work he's glad his brother has chosen to "follow his heart."
"It's been a great ride," Jim Mills said. "I'll miss working side-by-side with my brother Dave.
"You only live once and I feel like there's creative things I want to do," he continued. "I'm on the end of the diving board. I can tell there's water down there, but I can't tell how deep it is."
Jim Mills will vacate his office in mid-December and his last day will be Dec. 31. Some of his duties may be passed along to his son, James, who is a sales and marketing associate with the company. Jim Mills and brother Dave -- whose duties overlap -- are working toward transitioning the company to a post-Jim Mills era.
Agriculture's future
This year's 30th annual conference of American Agri-Women will have record-breaking attendance with more than 300 people set to attend, said Sharan Lanini, co-chairwoman of the event.
About one-third of attendees will come from California and the rest will come from across the country to Monterey, CA, Ms. Lanini said. It will be held Nov. 10-13 at Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa.
The conference theme Waves of Change will explore the changing face of modern farming and agribusiness. The event is being hosted by AAW's largest affiliate: California Women for Agriculture.
Participants will see, smell and taste everything from artichokes to wine, plus California Giant's strawberry juice drink and salads.
Some critical changes and trends that will be explored during the convention will be the new frontier of personalized nutrition based on emerging science and genetic innovation; the rapidly expanding foodservice sector and the explosion of new ethnic flavors and cuisines in the changing marketplace where consumers set the rules; the changing nutrition paradigm and the impacts that diets, health and the U.S. obesity crisis will have on agribusiness; and the impact of the new vulnerabilities of the food supply post-9/11.
Speakers include Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner Eric Lauritzen; A.G. Kawamura, California's secretary of agriculture; Jim Carroll, an international futurist, trends and change expert; Scott Horsfall, CEO of Buy California Marketing Agreement; Sharon McNerney, executive vice president with Nuffer, Smith, Tucker and an agricultural trends expert; Dr. Roberta Cook, a marketing economist with the University of California at Davis; and Claire Berger, Hollywood comedienne, author and television show host.
The Saturday gala finale will feature Leon Panetta, former congressman, Office of Management & Budget director and White House chief of staff.
The diversity of California's agriculture will be showcased at the event when California Women for Agriculture highlight some of the more prominent of the over 350 crops produced in the state to participants. For information, visit www.americanagriwomen.org.
(Contact Western Editor Brian Gaylord at 831/757-4000 or [email protected].)
With his 50th birthday approaching, Mr. Mills has decided to pursue some personal goals and dreams. He declined to comment on the specifics of those plans other than to say that he and his wife would take a long motor coach trip to Alaska in the near future. He will continue to serve as a consultant to the company.
Along with his brother, Dave, and sister, Susan, Jim Mills represents the second generation to have a long-term involvement in the company. Jim Mills' son, James, and nephew, Chris -- both grandsons of company founder Basil Mills -- are also actively involved in the company.
Mr. Mills began his career in produce from the ground up, working on a lettuce harvesting crew during summer breaks in the early 1970s. He started full time in sales in 1979, being named a company vice president and Iceberg lettuce sales manager in 1991 and then senior vice president in 2003.
For the past 10 years, working closely with his brother, Dave -- also a company senior vice president -- Jim Mills has focused on developing the company's whole leaf lettuce operation.
Mills Family Farms is widely recognized as the industry leader in the whole leaf category - which was virtually unknown a decade ago - supplying fresh, washed whole leaf sandwich and salad lettuce to the foodservice industry and recently introducing the products in consumer-sized retail packs.
"I've been working with my brother for 26 years and he's very dear to me," Dave Mills said, adding that while he'll miss his brother at work he's glad his brother has chosen to "follow his heart."
"It's been a great ride," Jim Mills said. "I'll miss working side-by-side with my brother Dave.
"You only live once and I feel like there's creative things I want to do," he continued. "I'm on the end of the diving board. I can tell there's water down there, but I can't tell how deep it is."
Jim Mills will vacate his office in mid-December and his last day will be Dec. 31. Some of his duties may be passed along to his son, James, who is a sales and marketing associate with the company. Jim Mills and brother Dave -- whose duties overlap -- are working toward transitioning the company to a post-Jim Mills era.
Agriculture's future
This year's 30th annual conference of American Agri-Women will have record-breaking attendance with more than 300 people set to attend, said Sharan Lanini, co-chairwoman of the event.
About one-third of attendees will come from California and the rest will come from across the country to Monterey, CA, Ms. Lanini said. It will be held Nov. 10-13 at Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa.
The conference theme Waves of Change will explore the changing face of modern farming and agribusiness. The event is being hosted by AAW's largest affiliate: California Women for Agriculture.
Participants will see, smell and taste everything from artichokes to wine, plus California Giant's strawberry juice drink and salads.
Some critical changes and trends that will be explored during the convention will be the new frontier of personalized nutrition based on emerging science and genetic innovation; the rapidly expanding foodservice sector and the explosion of new ethnic flavors and cuisines in the changing marketplace where consumers set the rules; the changing nutrition paradigm and the impacts that diets, health and the U.S. obesity crisis will have on agribusiness; and the impact of the new vulnerabilities of the food supply post-9/11.
Speakers include Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner Eric Lauritzen; A.G. Kawamura, California's secretary of agriculture; Jim Carroll, an international futurist, trends and change expert; Scott Horsfall, CEO of Buy California Marketing Agreement; Sharon McNerney, executive vice president with Nuffer, Smith, Tucker and an agricultural trends expert; Dr. Roberta Cook, a marketing economist with the University of California at Davis; and Claire Berger, Hollywood comedienne, author and television show host.
The Saturday gala finale will feature Leon Panetta, former congressman, Office of Management & Budget director and White House chief of staff.
The diversity of California's agriculture will be showcased at the event when California Women for Agriculture highlight some of the more prominent of the over 350 crops produced in the state to participants. For information, visit www.americanagriwomen.org.
(Contact Western Editor Brian Gaylord at 831/757-4000 or [email protected].)
