DENVER —Rob Davis of Connell, WA, was elected Chairman of the United States Potato Board (USPB) on March 15, 2013 at the organization’s 40th Annual Meeting in Colorado Springs, CO. Accepting the gavel from Immediate Past Chairman Sid Staunton of Tulelake, CA, he begins his sixth year on the USPB, having completed a year as Co-Chairman of the International Marketing Committee and one year as Co-Chairman on the Industry Communications & Policy Committee.
Speaking to the full USPB, Davis thanked all the Board Members for electing him, and for their support and confidence. He thanked USPB President and CEO Tim O’Connor, who tendered his resignation a few weeks previously, for his 14 years of service to the potato industry and the USPB. A search committee has been formed to find O’Connor’s replacement.
“The search process for a new CEO is scary and exciting at the same time,” Davis said in his opening remarks to the full USPB Board Membership. “I’m confident the newly formed search committee will find a new CEO who will take our marketing organization to the future.
“Our international and domestic marketing programs are doing great work, but our industry still faces many challenges. We need to tell the potato nutrition story louder and prouder, and it wouldn’t hurt to have a few new products in the industry. “Linda’s” mindset continues to change, and households remain focused on convenience in their meal choices.
“As we meet with USDA each year in Washington, DC, the USPB is looked on as a model organization in the AMS Fruit and Vegetable, Research and Promotion programs. The USPB has good partnerships with the state and national organizations and the Association for Potato Research and Education (APRE).” Along with chairing the USPB, Davis will concurrently continue his term as one of the grower representatives on the APRE board of directors.
A first generation farmer, Davis has been involved with the potato industry since 1999. His businesses are RHD, Inc. and Rob Davis Farms. He grows Rangers, Umatilla and Russet Burbank for frozen processing. Davis was part of the 2007 Potato Industry Leadership Institute in Maine and Washington, DC. He is married to Randi Davis, daughter of Pasco, WA, grower Allen Olberding, and they have four sons: Jake, Trey, Jack and Maxx.
For more information on the USPB as the nation’s potato marketing organization, positioned as the “catalyst for positive change,” and the central organizing force in implementing programs that will increase demand for potatoes, please visit www.uspotatoes.com.
David Fairbourn is Manager, Industry Communications & Policy, at the United States Potato Board in Denver. The mission of the USPB is to increase demand for potatoes and potato products through an integrated promotion program, thereby providing US producers with expanding markets for their production. David can be contacted at 303-369-7783 or david.fairbourn@uspotatoes.com. For complete information about the programs, ROI results, resources and tools available to all members of the industry through the USPB, please visit www.uspotatoes.com. The United States Potato Board—Maximizing Return on Grower Investment.
Source: United States Potato Board
