and exceeded it many times over.” In fact, he notes that being a fiscal conservative might be a drawback. “The board is always telling me we should spend more money. I’ll leave that to the next president,” he quipped. The Western Growers Experience While Nassif did list some specific highlight efforts during his Western Growers career (which are explored below), it is the association’s culture that he both inherited and honed that will be his most enduring legacy. He noted that Western Growers is a “top roots rather than grass roots organization.” The board of directors is made up of company owners and CEOs. They are the people that run companies and quickly make decisions. That structure was instrumental as Nassif and his staff tackled emerging problems and launched new entities. Under his watch, Western Growers greatly expanded its business in the agricultural insurance world expanding Pinnacle Claims Management and becoming a contractor for Covered California working with small business firms. For this, David Zanze and his team deserve the credit, he said. The association
Nassif testifies before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship
the business. Running a fiscally solvent organization has been at the top of his agenda ever since. Since those early days, the organization has done very well with its for-profit
entities running a profit every year. “My goal was to create a rainy day fund of $10 million that was free of obligation so that no matter what happened, we would always have that. We have established that
Vessey & Company would like to congratulate our longtime colleague and lifelong friend, Tom Nassif on his retirement.
20 Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2019
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