Doug Rauch To Address Innovation Culture At PMA's Industry Executive Leadership Conference

Newark, Del. — Former Trader Joe’s President Doug Rauch will explain to produce and floral executives why innovation is critical to business success when he joins a top-level group of speakers this May for the 2016 Executive Leadership Symposium.

“Today’s executives lead in an era of ‘innovate or die.’ I will share key elements of how to create a self-sustaining culture of innovation that constantly pushes the envelope forward,” said Rauch, who founded Daily Table after leaving Trader Joe’s.

Food retailing innovator Rauch joins a Who’s Who list of business thought leaders speaking at the 2016 symposium on the power of corporate culture as a competitive advantage.

The Executive Leadership Symposium is hosted by the Center for Growing Talent by PMA (formerly the PMA Foundation for Industry Talent), in partnership with Cornell University. To be held May 11-13, the symposium is designed to empower senior produce and floral executives who are looking to meet the challenges and changes in today’s evolving business landscape.

“This program addresses the unique circumstances of today’s produce and floral executives,” said committee co-chair Kelly Jacob, vice president of retail and emerging channels, PRO* ACT, LLC.  “We bring our industry’s senior executives together, expose them to best-in-class leadership development, and do it in a deep-dive format that generates takeaways they can put to work immediately.”

Rauch will open the symposium with his story about innovation as a culture within workplaces. He will be followed by senior consultant Vicki Myoda, speaking about the importance of knowing your own natural style of communication, risk taking and delegation, and how that helps to instill a healthy organizational culture.

Author and Harvard Senior Fellow Vikram Mansharamani will untangle the dynamics of a growing global middle class to help attendees think differently about the nature of global prosperity and how it shapes their business and its cultural values. CultureUniversity.com founder Tim Kuppler will use neuroscience, proven research and personal experience to uncover the lost meaning of culture, its many components, and its impact on financial performance.

Committee co-chair Jerry Butt, president/CEO of MIXTEC Group, underscored what makes the program so special. “We create a unique environment where well-respected experts address attendees as a group. After discussing what they’ve heard with their peers in breakout sessions led by professional facilitators, attendees have the unusual opportunity to reconvene with keynoters for further dialogue,” he said. “This is the only event that gives you that kind of personal access to follow up on concepts and apply them directly to real life and real business.”

The ideal executive attendee leads strategy, makes decisions that impact his or her company’s profitability, and hails from any segment of the global produce and floral supply chain. “The titles of our attendees usually start with ‘chief,’ ‘senior’ or ‘executive’,” said Center for Growing Talent by PMA Executive Director Margi Prueitt.

For more information and to register, visit www.growingtalentbypma.org/leadership-symposium. The 2016 Executive Leadership Symposium is sponsored by JV Smith Companies, Progressive Produce and Well Pict Berries.  

The Executive Leadership Symposium is one example of the leadership development training offered by the Center for Growing Talent by PMA. The Center for Growing Talent offers leadership development for produce and floral professionals at all stages of the career continuum, including emerging leaders and mid-level executives. Its popular Women’s Fresh Perspectives portfolio features an annual conference as well as networking events throughout the year. The Center for Growing Talent also works to attract talent to careers in produce and floral, and helps companies develop strategies and tools to retain talent. For more information, visit www.GrowingTalentbyPMA.org.

About the Center for Growing Talent by PMA

Center for Growing Talent by PMA was created by the produce and floral industry to grow the people across our industry. We help attract, develop and retain the talent needed to feed our industry’s growth, including educational programming and networking events. We offer a variety of industry-specific solutions across the career continuum, for university students, young professionals and women, emerging leaders, mid-level individuals and senior executives. We were created December 2005 as the PMA Education Foundation and later became PMA Foundation for Industry Talent; now we have evolved into Center for Growing Talent by PMA. For more information, visit GrowingTalentbyPMA.org.

About Produce Marketing Association (PMA)

Produce Marketing Association is the leading trade association representing companies from every segment of the global produce and floral supply chain. PMA helps members grow by providing connections that expand business opportunities and increase sales and consumption. For more information, visit www.pma.com.

Source: Produce Marketing Association (PMA)