Eastern Produce Council Leadership Class Kicks Off Year With Workshop and Networking

The 2026 Eastern Produce Council (EPC) Leadership Class received training on Developing Great Leaders from the Rutgers Office of Continuing Professional Education (OCPE). The training event was held on March 24, 2026 at Rutgers’ Ralph Geiger Turfgrass Education Center in New Brunswick, NJ.

“This event kicks off our program year by providing professional development along with a chance for the class members to get to know each other,” said Susan McAleavey Sarlund, EPC Executive Director. “These are both fundamental aspects of our Leadership Program.”

The engaging workshop focused on coaching, team building, communication styles, and giving and receiving feedback. Patty Reger from PKR Consulting Group and OCPE Adjunct Professor opened the session with a group discussion on what issues are impacting the industry and what people are excited about.

Reger spoke about Situational Leadership and explained its developmental levels. “As a leader if you focus on leading situationally it will get you a lot further a lot faster,” she said. “When you think about who you’re leading and where they are in the course of their career and knowledge, then you can look at how to lead based on these different levels.”

The workshop also covered nine tips for giving great feedback and how to turn feedback into feedforward. “Feedback is an art and most people aren’t great at giving it,” said Reger. “When feedback is general, it’s not useful. It is more effective to give very specific details. It’s also not a one-way street. Clarify the feedback and then take or suggest action. Take the feedback and do something with it.”

Ryan Kelly, Regional Sales Manager at Baldor Specialty Foods, valued the focus on the power of connection. “At Baldor, we care about ensuring our teams are empowered to support our customers and this program really supported this,” he said. “Understanding different working styles and interpersonal styles and how that understanding can be leveraged to make people as successful as possible is very useful.”

Reger led the class in a hands-on building exercise to explore collaboration and how people work together. “During this activity it was quite insightful to listen to everyone’s opinion before we started building,” said Natasha Phan, Sales Planning Manager with Mastronardi. “We found value in experimenting with different approaches and communication styles to ensure the team fully understood our plan and we were able to execute and pivot as needed. This experience also reinforced the importance of patience and collaboration as we worked through the project together.”

The EPC’s esteemed program provides a dual-medium learning environment and includes various tours and classroom learning activities throughout the year. Noelle Neary, Category Manager Produce for Wakefern Food Corp. and EPC Leadership Committee Co-Chair, emphasized the value of the variety of sessions and events for the Leadership Program. “The classroom setting, visiting a logistics operation, going to a farm, attending a trade show, all create a holistic picture of the industry and the opportunities,” she said. “Of course networking within the group and finding new people to lean on and learn from also continued to be incredibly beneficial.”

Participants selected for the 2026 program include: Alec Arena, Frank Donio Inc.; Stacy Conway, C.A. Ferolie; Timothy Dunn, Katzman Distribution; Judy Fierman, Fierman Produce Exchange Inc.; Michael Hearn, Four Seasons Produce; Ryan Kelly, Baldor Specialty Foods; Dylan Lang, Fowler Farms; Joycelyn Muise, F&S Fresh Foods; Veritza Ortiz, Four Seasons Produce; Paul Pascal, Sunny Valley Intl.; Meetkumar Patel, Wakefern Food Corp.; Natasha Phan, Mastronardi Produce; Dante Savanello, JOH; Meghan Szymansky, Crispy Green; Scott Tepper, Fierman Produce Exchange Inc.; Jake Walters, John Vena Inc.; Ben Weir, Local Bounti; and Chris Zuhlke, ProducePackaging.com.  Also participating in the event to support the leadership class were: Noelle Neary of Wakefern Food Corp. and EPC Leadership Committee Co-Chair; Vic Savanello of Katzman Distribution and EPC Leadership Committee Co-Chair; and past EPC President; and Al Murray, EPC Board Member.