partnership with Tracy, CA-based GloriAnn Farms and its line of packaged sweet corn. Strickland said the move is an affirmation of the company’s belief that California still offers lots of opportunity for an agricultural firm. He said the company currently has sales north of $200 million and is in the throes of succession planning. The two founders are in their 60s, committed to continued growth and proactively making sure the company stands the test of time through the second generation and beyond. The second generation is populated with the four members previously mentioned directly employed by the firm and three others involved as suppliers in one way or another. The third generation of the family tree is headed by Kelly and Kristin’s nine-year-old son, Jack. Kate, 7, and Grace, 2, round out the family unit. Proud dad said Jack is a lefty and is showing athletic ability. He said the family is very much looking forward to the move to Ripon and immersing themselves in the community just as they did in Brawley. In fact, Kelly was an elder in the local church until he recently resigned because of his pending move to the San Joaquin Valley. In his spare time, he likes to golf, coach his kids in their sports and enjoy wine with Kristin. “We are looking forward to being closer to wine country,” he quipped. Kelly first got involved with Western Growers as a member of the fourth Future Volunteer Leaders Class, which completed its term at the 2018 Annual Meeting. That was the same meeting in which Kelly became a member of the Western Growers Board of Directors as the elected representative from the Brawley district, replacing Jack Vessey who stepped down after several terms on the board.
quite closely with Bill and Joe and they ended up offering me a position with the company.” It was the vice president of operations job he holds today. Kelly and Krsitin gave it careful consideration and with their first two children in tow moved to Brawley in 2012. “We did have to talk about it and carefully consider it,” Kelly said. “It was quite a change to go from San Diego to Brawley. Kristin grew up in Brawley and she didn’t envision moving back here again. But it is a phenomenal company and family and we decided to make the move. It was a great move. I love Brawley. I love the small town and it’s a phenomenal community.” It could have been smooth sailing ahead, but the story took another unexpected turn. “After moving back here, I was diagnosed with genetic heart disease. At the age of 32, I had an 11-hour, open- heart operation to repair the aortic valve. And then, two years later, I had a second procedure on the tri-cusped valve. I feel great now but it does cause you to stop and re-evaluate your life.” That re-evaluation led Kelly to understand that he is right where he should be. In fact, while he calls the genetic disorder random, he is a great believer that everything happens for a reason and is not random at all. Presently, he believes his business background and education created a skill set that is a perfect fit for the family firm that he married into. And he is excited about the growth and changes that have occurred at Five Crowns over the past decade, and what the future holds. Strickland joined the firm in 2012 and he said the growth has been tremendous since then—and the most aggressive in the firm’s more than three decade history. “We have added watermelon, berry and asparagus programs, opened a new cooler facility here in Brawley and are building a new 170,000 square foot processing facility
in Tracy. And we’ve opened up a logistics operation.” As he was being interviewed for this story, the Stricklands were getting ready to embark on another new adventure. “In July, we are moving to Ripon (in the San Joaquin Valley) and I am going to run the new Tracy facility along with my current duties.” That facility will also have an office for Five Crowns’ Northern California team. “We will have 20-22 people in the office up here and it will be used as a distribution facility as well as for our watermelon packing operation.”
Five Crowns already
has a collaborative
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MAY | JUNE 2019
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