Valencia, CA — Sunkist Growers announced the hiring of Rayne Thompson as Sunkist’s new Director of Government Relations & Public Policy.
Having worked extensively in both Washington D.C. and Sacramento, Thompson is uniquely suited to assume this role at Sunkist. She served in Washington as Administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Agriculture Marketing Service and in Sacramento as Deputy Secretary at California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) as well as holding positions with the Agriculture Council of California and the California Farm Bureau Federation. In these positions, she has advocated for agriculture at federal and state levels.
“Given her background, Rayne Thompson understands the challenges farmers face in a competitive global marketplace,” said Sunkist President & CEO Russell Hanlin. “Thompson’s understanding of legislative policy, pest/disease issues, and international trade will prove invaluable as she begins her work with Sunkist.”
Thompson is leaving her current position as Manager of Federal Policy at California Farm Bureau to join the cooperative and will start work at Sunkist the first week of January 2015.
Sunkist Growers is a citrus marketing cooperative, founded in 1893, which is owned by and operated for thousands of family farmers growing citrus in California and Arizona. For more information about Sunkist’s family farmers visit http://familystories.sunkist.com/.
Source: Sunkist Growers
