Fresh Pear Committee elections: Wenatchee District

Elections for a Wenatchee District grower member and two alternates to the Fresh Pear Committee of Marketing Order #927 are scheduled to be held at 11:20 a.m. on January 21, 2025. The election will be a hybrid in-person event with a Zoom component and will be hosted and moderated by Shawn Cox and held at the North Central Washington Pear Day located in the Wenatchee Convention Center, 121 N. Wenatchee Ave, Wenatchee, WA 98801.

Only fresh pear growers from the Wenatchee District (includes the counties of King, Chelan, Okanogan, Douglas, Grant, Lincoln and Spokane in the state of Washington and all other counties in Washington lying north thereof) are eligible to nominate and vote in this election. The positions to be filled include: Member position held by Kevin Carney, the first alternate position held by Rod Grams and the second alternate position held by Allan Warman.

The current slate is eligible for re-election having only served one out of three possible consecutive terms expiring on June 30, 2025. Other growers are eligible as well. Names of those elected will be submitted to the United States Secretary of Agriculture for official appointment to the committee and will serve for a two-year term beginning July 1, 2025.

Among other duties, the Fresh Pear Committee is responsible for setting the assessment rates for research and promotion and advertising of all pears grown in Washington and Oregon marketed in the domestic and export markets.

The committee encourages women, minorities and the physically challenged, who qualify as pear growers/handlers, to attend and participate in the nomination proceedings.