About

About

The U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council is blueberry industry growers’ voice to consumers.

The USHBC’s
Bluetiful Mission

  • Earning and maintaining market confidence through good agricultural practices and good management practices
  • Generating research findings on the health benefits associated with blueberries and collaborating with the industry to ensure they are continually communicated to consumers

The USHBC’s mission is to serve growers and handlers by growing a healthy highbush blueberry industry. The Council supports farms like yours through promotion, research, and education while increasing awareness and consumption of blueberries. The USHBC supports the blueberry industry in a variety of critical ways, including:

  • Improving grower and handler participation in pursuit of the USHBC’s and the blueberry industry’s goals
  • Initiating activities that will increase demand for highbush blueberries in all the varied forms and settings in which they are offered, and encouraging the expansion of these forms and settings.

The NABC

While the USHBC is a federal research and promotion program, the North American Blueberry Council (NABC) is a voluntary organization that serves as the voice of the highbush blueberry industry. While the audiences the NABC and the USHBC serve overlap, their missions are very different. The NABC’s duties include legislative, executive, and regulatory interface and liaison on behalf of the blueberry industry.

Learn More About The NABC

Officers, Members, and Staff

The USHBC exists thanks to the dedication and passion of members throughout the blueberry industry. To ensure that the council is always a diverse representation of our industry, the USHBC has adopted a diversity outreach plan.

The USHBC has adopted a diversity outreach plan to attempt to achieve a diverse representation on the Council. USHBC programs are open to all individuals without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, genetic information, parental status, and marital or family status. It is USHBC policy that membership on the Council and its committees reflect the diversity of individuals served by its programs.

To accomplish this objective, the USHBC will strive to attain a representation of growers and other industry participants from diverse backgrounds on the Council and USHBC committees. To this end, the USHBC strongly encourages women, minorities, and persons with disabilities to seek nominations to the USHBC and to participate in Council and USHBC committee activities.

Corporate Responsiblity
Statement

USHBC Offices

Chairman: Chris Barnhill
Vice Chairman: Bill Braswell
Treasurer: Mark Hurst
Secretary: Pat Goin
Member at Large: Bill Steed
Past Chairman: Art Galletta

USHBC Staff

Executive Director: Mark Villata
Assistant Manager: Julie Fogarty
Marketing Manager: Victoria De Bruin
Compliance Coordinator: Rick Ruckman
Office Manager: Mary Nezbeth
Administrative Assistant: Mandy Boarman

States

California

Member - William Steed
First Term Ends 12/31/19

Alternate - Young Kwun
First Term Ends 12/31/19

Florida

Member - Brittany Lee
First Term Ends 12/31/19

Alternate - Janet Swilley
First Term Ends - 12/31/19

Georgia

Member - John Bennett
First Term Ends 12/31/19

Alternate - Vacant

Michigan

Member - George Fritz, Jr.
First Term Ends 12/31/19

Alternate - Bob Carini
First Term Ends 12/31/19

New Jersey

Member - Denny Doyle
Second Term Ends 12/31/19

Alternate - Vacant

North Carolina

Member - Christ Barnhill
First Term Ends 12/31/19

Alternate - Neil Moore
First Term Ends 12/31/19

Oregon

Member - Steve Erickson
Second Term Ends 12/31/19

Alternate - Doug Krahmer
Second Term Ends 12/31/19

Washington

Member - Rob Dhaliwal
First Term Ends 12/31/19

Alternate - Bryan Sakuma
First Term Ends 12/31/19

Handler, Importers, Exporters & Public Members

Handler

Member - Guy Cotton
Second Term Ends 12/31/19

Alternate - Risa Bakker
First Term Ends 12/31/19

Importer #1

Member - Francisco Allende
First Term Ends 12/31/18

Alternate - John Johnston
First Term Ends 12/31/18

Importer #2

Member - Brian Bocock
Second Term Ends 12/31/19

Alternate - Brian Caster
First Term Ends 12/31/19

Importer #3

Member - Janice Honigberg
First Term Ends 12/31/19

Alternate - Andrew Maiman
First Term Ends 12/31/19

Importer #4

Member - Bo Slack
First Term Ends 12/31/19

Alternate - Tom Bodtke
First Term Ends 12/31/19

Exporter #1

Member - Jorge Andrew Varela
First Term Ends 12/31/18

Alternate - Felipe Juillerat
First Term Ends 12/31/18

Exporter #2

Member - Ray Biln
First Term Ends 12/31/19

Alternate - Vacant

Public Member

Member - Juan Silva, PH.D
First Term Ends 12/31/18

Alternate - Amy Howell, PH.D
First Term Ends 12/31/18

Regions

Western

Member - Mark Hurst
Second Term Ends 12/31/18

Alternate - Verne Gingerich
Second Term Ends 12/31/18

Midwest

Member - Patricia Goin
First Term Ends 12/31/18

Alternate - Shelly Ann Hartmann
First Term Ends 12/31/18

Northeast

Member - Art Galletta
First Term Ends 12/31/18

Alternate - Dave Arena
First Term Ends 12/31/18

Southeast

Member - Bill Braswell
Second Term Ends 12/31/18

Alternate - Jerod Gross
First Term Ends 12/31/18

Committees

Assigned committee members are not elected USHBC members, but are assigned to committees because of special expertise.

Executive

Chairman – Chris Barnhill, NC

Vice Chairman – Bill Braswell, FL

Treasurer – Mark Hurst, OR

Secretary – Patricia Goin, MI

Member at Large – Bill Steed, CA

Past Chairman – Art Galletta, NJ

Finance

Chairman: Mark Hurst, Western Region, OR

Risa Bakker, Handler

John Bennett, GA

George Fritz Jr., MI

Art Galletta, Region 3

Janice Honigberg, Importer 2

John Johnston, Importer 1

Doug Krahmer, OR

Lorrie Merker, Assigned Committee Member, MI

Neil Moore, NC

Bill Steed, CA

USHBC Chairman: Chris Barnhill, NC

Health Research

Chairman: Dave Brazelton, Assigned Committee Chair, OR

Karen Avinelis, Assigned Committee Member, CA

Amy Howell, Ph.D., Public Member

Mike Mainland, Ph.D., Assigned Committee Member, NC

Adair Peterson, Assigned Committee Member, GA

Mark Sweeney, Ph.D., Assigned Committee Member, B.C., Canada

Dave Trinka, Assigned Committee Member, MI

Leslia Wada, Ph.D., Assigned Committee Member, CA

Dave Wyckoff, Assigned Committee Member, WA

USHBC Chairman: Chris Barnhill, NC

Good Practices

Chairman: Denny Doyle, NJ

Cecilia Allende, Assigned Committee Member, PA

Bill Braswell, Southern Region, FL

Cort Brazelton, Assigned Committee Member, OR

Christy Butler, Assigned Committee Member, OR

Brian Caster, Handler, CA

Verne Gingerich, Western Region, OR

Pat Goin, Midwest Region, IN

Felipe Juillerat, Exporter, Chile

Brittany Lee, FL

Bryan Sakuma, WA

Juan Silva, Ph.D., Public Member, MS

Jason Smith, Assigned Committee Member, B.C., Canada

USHBC Chairman, Chris Barnhill, NC

Industry Relations

Chairman: Bo Slack, Assigned Committee Chair, WA

Dave Arena, Eastern Region, NJ

Tom Bodtke, Assigned Committee Member, MI

Guy Cotton, Handler, CA

Rob Dhaliwal, WA

Steve Erickson, OR

Jerod Gross, Southern Region, FL

Young Kwun, CA

Andrew Maiman, Importer 3

Janet Swilley, FL                                                                            

Jorge Varela, Exporter #1, Chile                                                                

USHBC Chairman: Chris Barnhill, NC

Promotions

Chairman – Bob Carini, Assigned Committee Chair, MI

Francisco Allende, Importer

CarrieAnn Arias, Assigned Committee Member

Andres Armstrong, Assigned Committee Member

Tom Avinelis, Assigned Committee Member

Ray Biln, Importer

Brian Bocock, Importer

Stan Crafton, Assigned Committee Member

Denny Doyle, NJ

Shelly Hartmann, Region 2

Zack Kuster, Assigned Committee Member

Jeff Malensky, Assigned Committee Member

Ken Patterson, Assigned Committee Member

Nathan Sakuma, Assigned Committee Member

John Shelford, Assigned Committee Member

USHBC Chairman – Chris Barnhill, NC

Export Subcommittee

Chairman: Dave Arena, Eastern Region, NJ

Tom Avinelis, Assigned Committee Member, CA

Bill Braswell, Southern Region, FL

Bob Carini, MI

Mark Hurst, Western Region, OR

Jeff Malensky, Assigned Committee Member, OR

David Munger, Assigned Committee Member, CA

Nathan Sakuma, Assigned Committee Member, WA

Blueberry Technology Subcommittee

Chairman: Rod Cook, Assigned Committee Chair, WA

Andres Armstrong, Assigned Committee Member, Chile

Mark Hurst, Western Region, OR

Mike Mainland, Ph.D., Assigned Committee Member, NC

Mike Makara, Assigned Committee Member, B.C., Canada

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