WASHINGTON — The next few weeks are critical to sway lawmakers that a comprehensive immigration reform bill must have an agreed upon labor fix for the agriculture industry, said Robert Guenther, senior vice president of public policy at United Fresh Produce Association.

“Obviously, there is a race to get a bill introduced in the House and Senate on immigration reform,” explained Mr. Guenther, March 6, in between meetings on Capitol Hill. “There is a window. We want to make sure ag is part of a broader bill if one is developed in the Senate,” he said.

The Vidalia Onion Committee, which represents South Georgia growers in the region where America’s favorite sweet onions are grown, wants consumers to take their product outside. Literally.

The 88th Annual Canadian Produce Marketing Association Convention & Trade Show, themed Fresh Success, will be held April 17-19, 2013 at the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto. Returning to Toronto with 500 exhibit spaces, the 2013 event will have 25 percent more space than its 2009 Toronto visit, on target to be the largest yet.

CPMA's lineup for this year's event includes business sessions, engaging keynote speakers, a retail tour, social and networking events, and of course the opportunity to network on the trade show floor.

Cold Train Express, an intermodal service launched by Rail Logistics in partnership with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway and the Port of Quincy in Washington state in 2010, will open a new office in downtown Chicago this year.

The company’s new facility will focus primarily on hauling more cargo and various products back from the Midwest and East Coast to Washington state and Oregon. Cold Train recently tripled the size of its Quincy, WA-based refrigerated container fleet and now has 300 state-of-the-art 53-foot Hyundai refrigerated containers.

“This will be our 25th year as a company,” Jesus (Chuy) Lopez Jr., president of Big Chuy Distributors & Sons Inc. in Nogales, AZ, said Jan. 25.

According to the company’s website, “Jesus (Big Chuy) Lopez Sr. started working in the produce industry in the early 1970s. Through hard work and gained experience he opened Big Chuy Distributors in 1988. A year later, both of his sons, Jesus and Alex, joined him in the company, later forming Big Chuy Distributors and Sons.”

Cool Creations is a hot-ticket item, and retailers are increasingly using the value-added line offered by C&C Produce to distinguish themselves in the produce department. Nick Conforti, John Conforti and Nick Cali are the company’s owners. Nick Conforti said Cool Creations was added to the company’s offerings two-and-a-half years ago and continues to build its reputation as a fresh produce innovator in the Kansas City region.