Manfre said that while re-election every year was not guaranteed there were several very capable members in his district that chose not to run because he was on the ballot. “The first thing I did after making my decision was to contact several people in my district and tell them that I am not running this year and to be sure they put their names on the ballot, if they are interested.” The Capurro executive said he was first approached to run for a Board position in the 1990s “but it wasn’t the right time for me. I had younger kids and didn’t want to make the time commitment.” In the early 2000s, he noted that
Western Growers made important changes and was taking a very progressive and active position on many issues important to Manfre. “That was a tipping point for me…and my kids were college age, so I decided to run,” he said. “I was surprised that I won but I was very happy to have been elected and I am very happy that I have been able to win re-election ever since.” Manfre noted that in earlier times, there was a perception that the Board Members were part of an “old boys club” but that was not the situation he found upon joining the group. And it has not been true ever since. “I was on
the Executive Committee for several terms during my tenure and I was on the Audit Committee almost every year,” he said. “I saw the inner workings of the board and audited the elections. There is a lot of work that goes into being a Board Member and it is truly a dedicated group of individuals who do leave their company hat at the door. Obviously, you have a lot of heavy hitters on the Board, but when we are debating issues everyone is talking about the betterment of the industry and the association not their own companies.” He added that many different viewpoints are typically aired for every
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MAY | JUNE 2022
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Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com
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