Past Chairmen Weigh in On Talley’s 2 nd Year
By Tim Linden
S everal past chairmen of the Western Grower Board of Directors who are still serving the association as members of the board wholeheartedly support the decision to extend current Chairman Ryan Talley’s leadership for an extra year. Growers system of having their future top volunteer leader go through a multi- year process to rise to that level greatly benefits the association while offering personal and professional growth for each chairman. They believe the unique In separate interviews, each of the chairmen noted that the Western situation that was 2020 robbed the association of profiting from Talley’s wisdom gained through ascending the ranks and prevented him from reaping the benefits of the full experience.
Tom Deardorff II, president of Deardorff Family Farms, Oxnard, CA, (WG chairman 2011) noted that the chairmanship of Western Growers is largely about building relationships across the supply chain for the betterment of the industry and the association’s membership. “A lot of what we do (as the chairman) is work together with others to represent our industry. In a perfect year, Ryan would have gone to all the conventions representing the association and would have represented us in the political arena.” Deardorff noted that he was surprised during his term at the level of access afforded the Western Growers chairman by virtue of the position. “You are talking to the most important people in the industry and in government. Sure, Ryan missed the opportunity to experience that, but we missed the opportunity to have him as our champion. He was and is the perfect guy for the job.” Sammy Duda of Duda Farm Fresh Foods, Inc., in Salinas (WG chairman, 2017) made a very similar point. “Ryan is a very good intelligent thinker. When you get on the chairman track, it is a five-year process and you prepare for it diligently during the final two years. For your year, you are the face of the organization. It is a unique opportunity to engage with some very important people and help them understand our industry and in a small way influence their decisions. Not being from California or Arizona, it was a humbling and gratifying honor for me to represent Western Growers.”
He said this past year the opportunity for that engagement with face-to- face encounters was shortened by the pandemic. He believes the association will be served well by having Ryan in the top post for another year. Ron Ratto, president of Ratto Bros., Modesto and WG chairman in 2019, echoed the comments of the others with regard to the chairman’s standing as the front person for Western Growers. He also specifically noted the role the chairman plays as the liaison between the membership and the Western Growers staff. “The value of the position takes several forms,” he said. “It is the highest- level volunteer position and provides a direct conduit to the professional staff that run the organization. It is important to the membership that there is direct access to top-level professional staff so that membership point of view on issues can be directly communicated.” Sammy Duda: ”When you get on the chairman track, it is a five-year process and you prepare for it diligently during the final two years. For your year, you are the face of the organization.”
Tom Deardorff II: “Sure, Ryan missed the
opportunity to experience that, but we missed the opportunity to have him as our champion.”
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