McLean, Va. – The U.S. Apple Association (USApple) recently elected a new slate of officers at its Board of Trustees meeting held in conjunction with the Apple Crop Outlook and Marketing Conference in Chicago. In addition, association members elected six trustees during USApple’s annual meeting, held Aug. 17.

“USApple officers guide our association’s activities on behalf of all our members, and are vital to the success of our activities,” said USApple President and CEO Kraig R. Naasz. “Our association has chosen an incredibly knowledgeable and well-qualified group of individuals to lead the U.S. apple industry in the coming year.”

Ed Wittenbach of Wittenbach Orchards in Belding, Mich., will serve at the helm of USApple’s Board of Trustees as its chairman. Wittenbach, who grows 200 acres of apples on his 520-acre farm, is a past recipient of the “Apple Grower of the Year” award and past chairman of the Michigan Apple Committee.

John Rice of Rice Fruit Company, Gardners, Pa., is the association’s newly elected vice chairman. Rice, who operates the largest fresh apple packing facility in the East, has been named “Apple Person of the Year” and “Apple Grower of the Year,” and currently serves on the Pennsylvania Apple Marketing Board.

USApple’s secretary/treasurer is Larry Olsen, co-owner and founder of Olsen Brothers, a 1,800-acre farm in Prosser, Wash. Olsen also serves as chairman of the Washington Apple Commission.

Rounding out the association’s officer group is immediate past chairman Phil Glaize, Jr. of Fred L. Glaize L.C. in Winchester, Va. Glaize led the apple industry through an economically challenging year, during which USApple won an antidumping case against Chinese apple juice concentrate, garnered market loss assistance for apple growers and secured record purchases of apples and apple products by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Trustees Named to USApple Board
USApple members approved the appointment of six regular and regional trustees during the association’s annual business meeting Aug. 17. The following USApple members were elected to represent the state and regional producer associations as regional trustees on the board for three-year terms.

• John Teeple, Teeple Farms, Wolcott, N.Y., representing district 1 (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey);
• John Rice, Rice Fruit Company in Gardners, Pa., representing district 2 (Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee);
• Mike Evans, Evans Orchard, Frankfort, Mich., representing district 3 (Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas);
• Dale Foreman, Foreman, Arch, Dodge, Volyn & Zimmerman, Wenatchee, Wash., and Bruce Grim, Washington Apple Growers Marketing Association, Wenatchee, Wash., both representing district 5 (Washington state).

In addition, Keith Mathews of Rainer Fruit Sales, Inc. in Selah, Wash., was elected to serve a three-year term on USApple’s Board of Trustees as a regular trustee.

USApple’s Board of Trustees consists of 24 industry members, representing every apple-producing region of the country and every segment of the nation’s apple industry.

The U.S. Apple Association (USApple) is the national trade association representing all segments of the apple industry. Members include 40 state apple associations representing 9,000 apple growers throughout the country, as well as nearly 500 individual firms involved in the apple business. USApple’s mission is to provide the means for all segments of the U.S. apple industry to join in appropriate collective efforts to profitably produce and market apples and apple products.