Chat session - Amy Philpott

Amy Philpott of United Fresh Produce Association agreed to be the second Google Chat subject this week, and you can find our short keyboard-driven chat here. You might be surprised that Amy once was equally at home in auto shop as she is now as an association executive.....

10:05 AM me: Thanks for chatting today for the benefit of Fresh Talk readers!
amyphilpott1: Happy to do so. This Google Talk is fun.
me: Amy, tell us where you grew up - what's your hometown and what is it famous for, besides you
10:06 AM amyphilpott1: I grew up on a farm about 5 miles outside of Centerville, CA. – a small town (fewer than 100 pop) located about 20 miles east of Fresno, CA. It sits at the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The Sunmaid Raisin plant is not too far away, so I guess that is our biggest claim to fame.
10:07 AM me: So your father was a farmer - is he still on the farm?
10:09 AM amyphilpott1: Yes, he is a small farmer - the farm is now down to about 20 acres of oranges only. When I was younger, we grew Thompson Seedless Grapes for the Gallo winery in Clovis and oranges, which we sold to the Sunkist Co-op in Sanger. I remember going to the co-op to deliver the oranges and pick up more picking bins. I have wonderful childhood memories growing up in the country.
10:10 AM me: That sounds very picturesque. You were intentional about staying involved with agriculture as you went to college, then?
10:11 AM amyphilpott1: It wasn't intential at first, but after going away to college and realizing how much I loved coming back home to the farm, I knew I wanted to stay involved someway.
10:12 AM me: What college did you go to and what was your first job after graduation?
10:14 AM amyphilpott1: I studied in San Francisco for a few years and then moved back to Cal State Fresno to graduate with my bachlor's in business administration. I worked all through college as a manager at an auto parts store. After graduation I worked for FMC - Farm Machinery Corporation.
10:15 AM me: If you can manage an auto parts store, I expect you can handle most anything! So you have no problem changing the oil, I take it?
10:17 AM amyphilpott1: Funny you ask - given that we didn't really have enough acreage to make a fulling living off of farming, my dad was also the auto shop teacher at Sanger High School. I had to learn how to change the oil, change the tires and do a complete tune up before he would get me a car.
10:18 AM me: Good for him?- and you. So what or who opened the door to your first produce related job?
10:21 AM amyphilpott1: During my first graduate studies, I worked at Kalashian Packing, a fig packing plant in Fresno. We processed figs for Nabisco's fig newtons. HOWEVER, I have my mentor Scott Horsfall to thank for my first career position. He and Bruce Obbink hired me as an international marketing director after I graduated with a Masters in International Marketing from Cal Stat Univeristy, Fresno. (I won't say what year)
10:22 AM sorry - for those who don't know Scott or Bruce - that was with the California Table Grape Commission
10:24 AM me: Bruce was/is quite an astute man - and Scott has done quite well for himself as well. There is so much to ask you about, but I won't make you spend all day at the keyboard. What did you enjoy most about your time with the grape commission and how did United get you to come to Washington, D.C.?
10:28 AM amyphilpott1: The part I loved most about my job with the commission - the part that I also love about my current job - was the contact with the industry and with growers in particular. I know from experience that is it so easy to get absorbed in what goes on the farm. When I realized how important it is to help form farm and food policies at the national level, I knew coming to DC was another way to help my dad and others in the produce industry.
10:29 AM me: For the benefit of our readers, what is your job title and responsibilitiees and what is one project that you have been working lately?
10:32 AM amyphilpott1: My title here at United Fresh Produce Association is vice president of marketing and industry relations. Among the many projects that I'm working on concurrently, the Retail Produce Manager Awards program is at the top - we'll be announcing the winners in the next week or two and it is always exciting to bring these retailers to our show in Las Vegas where we honor what they do to promote fresh produce.
10:37 AM me: Amy, thanks for your time. I appreciate it.
amyphilpott1: My pleasure!