Starting a Federal Check-Off Program from Scratch The pecan industry's Federal marketing order, provided it with various mandated authorities. Still, the one thing it lacked was its ability to assess pecans being imported from Mexico. The United States is the world's largest pecan-producing nation, but barely. Mexico also produces abundant pecans, and Mexico's largest export market is the United States. Margins in the pecan industry are tight, and pecans produced in Mexico have economic advantages over its neighbor in the north. Federal marketing orders do not permit the assessment of imports, but Federal check-off programs do. The U.S. growers worked with USDA to promulgate its check-off program in just 24 months. The American pecan industry is the first to have a Federal marketing order and check-off program. As Director of Regulatory Affairs, endless hours were spent deliberating with USDA to determine how the two programs could coexist without commingling operations. Separating data collection, sharing program information, dividing marketing efforts, collecting assessments, overall program administration, adoption of bylaws, and seating board members and officers were all monumental tasks. Ultimately, the efforts resulted in capturing an additional $4 million in assessments and leveled the playing field between U.S. and Mexican pecan growers.

Creating A Plan to Better Serve 29 Commodity Programs.

As Assistant to the Division Director of USDA's Marketing Order and Agreement Division (MOAD), I filled the division's chief of staff role, providing regulatory support for 28 commodity programs. Each program had unique issues ranging from compliance to inspection to marketing to trade. Among the 50 employees of MOAD, the interpretation of managing this crisis was just as wide-ranging. The division had existed since the early 1950s, yet it had never drafted a Strategic Plan, a constitution, to follow. In 2014, I helped facilitate the process of assembling a steering committee for the division and producing our internal roadmap for future success. Working with a third party to eliminate internal finger pointing, We confronted issues that included stakeholder communication, market information & intelligence, market development, compliance standards, commodity procurement, advocacy, and optimizing digital platforms to streamline the division's stakeholder services.

The division's strategic plan resulted in a variety of deliverables, including facilitating annual meetings with all 29 programs attending, ensuring MOAD leadership visits its programs every year, developing guidelines for proper marketing and communication, establishing compliance audit guidelines, creating templates for various checks and balances, establishing timelines for various internal reviews, and establishing a review committee when parties can't find agreement.

Now that USDA Marketing Orders and Check-off Programs are under the same direction, both are on the same page. A living document was developed that serves as a roadmap for moving in unison as one team and providing clarity to the programs that USDA regulates on a daily basis.

Providing Advocacy so Tree Nuts can Enter Foreign Markets. As Western Regional Director for USDA, my core mission was to help progress agendas for some of the most extensive commodity programs in the United States. California's tree nut industry blankets California's magnificent Central Valley. Billions of pounds of nuts are exported across the globe each year. On average, California exports about 75% of the entire annual crop of almonds and pistachios. Disrupting that flow of nuts can cause a catastrophic collapse in grower's returns.

One such disruption took place in 2014/15, with demands placed on both industries by the European Union to address concerns with aflatoxin. Due to the ever-changing weather in California, tree nuts are susceptible to aflatoxins in mold and fungi. The EU mandated that extraordinary measures be implemented for all incoming almond and pistachio containers. Both mandated nut programs were quick to address the issue, establishing a voluntary testing program accompanied by a certificate that enabled containers to bypass special measure testing at the receiving EU shipping terminal. USDA demanded that this voluntary testing protocol be codified via Notice and Comment rulemaking. The two nut programs pushed back as the certified sampling process was a voluntary program. I spent 18 months as a conduit between USDA's legal counsel and the Federal marketing orders for almonds and pistachios to build a case to bypass the lengthy Notice and Comment codifying process and keep the program voluntary. Today, the EU accepts the Pre Export Check (PEC) program to allow containers with a PEC certificate to bypass aflatoxin sampling at the receiving terminal. The PEC program has become the gold standard for other exporting commodity groups to follow.

Finding Common Ground amongst Competitors Resulting in a far Superior Product.

In 2008, the financial crisis infected the globe, as the unemployment rate nationwide increased from 4.8% to 10.6%, and home values evaporated. Household budgets were tightened. The Recreational Vehicle and Marine industries collapsed as both industries depended on home equity to secure funding for these toys. For decades, the industries promoted two of the largest consumer events in California. The RV Dealers Association had the longest-running industry event, and the Northern California Marine Association had the longest-running boat show in the state. Both events were held on separate dates at the State Fairgrounds in Sacramento. Each event covered almost a million square feet. Due to the economic collapse, neither event could secure the minimum square feet needed to host their event.

DCG stepped in and brought both associations to the table to join forces and combine the event. The show must go on. The plan required a laundry list of deliberations over topics including ownership of the event, how profits were to be split, setting event dates and hours, naming the event, segregating space, setting exhibit rates, splitting booth exhibitors, agreeing on advertising strategy, labor union negotiations, media relations, and so much more. Both parties reached an agreement to combine for a one-time event.

Now, that one-time event has been running for 15 years. Deliberation has turned to collaboration. The response from consumers and exhibitors has been positive. Together, the messaging has increased, but expenses have decreased. Each industry has the same shared demographic, and both industries realized that RV buyers are also boat buyers and visa versa. Consumers, exhibitors, and promoters get more, creating a win, win, win, can't miss event.