Darby Jones, who has served as the Washington State Horticultural Association's communications coordinator for four years, will be stepping down to return to the private sector June 15. Her successor, Lynette Smith, has already stepped into the rather large shoes left behind by Ms. Jones.

The United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association, based in Washington, DC, announced that it has hired Autumn Veazey as director of legislative affairs and associate counsel.

"Autumn brings a great set of credentials to this position at United," United President Tom Stenzel said in a statement. "Her family has strong roots in the produce industry, and we will be able to utilize her personal background along with her professional training to enhance and expand our government relations expertise in Washington, DC."

The ending to this story hasn't been written yet, so it's impossible to classify it. Is it a story with a happy ending showing how a small firm with a good idea can make it in the marketplace? Is it a sad story showing how big the retail industry has gotten so that new product introductions are the sole domain of the multi-national companies? Or will it end up being the tale of an item that seemed to be a good idea but just didn't find enough of a marketing niche to make it?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced June 6 that a statewide quarantine will be imposed next season on the shipments of fresh Florida citrus fruit to other citrus-producing states.

The quarantine will allow the continued shipment of fresh fruit to non-citrus-producing states and other countries under certain restrictions. The rules governing the quarantine are expected to be published by the end of this summer.

Dana Thomas, president of Bloomington, CA-based Index Fresh, has announced the appointment of Nate Pidduck to the newly created position of food-safety coordinator.

Index Fresh's initiative represents perhaps the first food-safety coordinator for growers in the avocado industry. As food-safety coordinator, Mr. Pidduck will be responsible for ensuring that food- safety criteria are met by Index Fresh's suppliers. He is working with Index Fresh to prepare a manual that will help in simplifying the process.

Randolph Breschini, who joined Salinas, CA-based Growers Express as its president in August 2004, is no longer with the company, according to a recent report issue by The Blue Book.

The report was confirmed by another source in the Salinas area who wished not to be identified. Attempts to reach Growers Express for comment by deadline for the June 12 issue of The Produce News were unsuccessful, as were attempts to reach Mr. Breschini at home.