Taking Stock: Looking Forward
There are those days when I feel I’ve seen it all before. Life is just a series of repetitions. Some call it déjà vu.
Then there are days when life is a continuous adventure of discovery. With every issue of Spudman, we deliver the latest news and discoveries of the potato world to your mailbox or downloaded to your computer.
With this issue, the first of 2014, we re-discover the rewards of hard work and innovation in Dianna Troyer’s profile of R & G Potatoes.
Garn Theobald and Ray DeRoche started R&G in 1977. At that time they were shipping 80,000 cwt. This past year they shipped 3.5 million cwt.
Ray retired in 1991 and Steve Theobald joined his brother in the American Falls, Idaho office. It’s a story of perseverance and preparation and of being in the right place at the right time.
A year ago we were writing about access to Mexico and a year later we have Blair Richardson, USPB president and CEO, writing about the potential access to Mexico, contributing a little bit of déjà vu and a lot of good advice.
With the new year I want to take a moment to introduce you to part of the team at Great American Media Services (GAMS) that helps put this magazine in your hands.
First there’s Marnie Lawson, the director of advertising. Without advertising there is no Spudman magazine. Many of you have met Marnie at the POTATO EXPO or various conferences. She is a key player in the magazine’s production and she keeps me informed of innovations she hears about from her clients.
Speaking of production, the clean copy that you read in every issue could not be accomplished without the editorial overview of Lee Dean.
The layout, the very look and presentation of Spudman, is the creative work of our designer, Jim Young.
In the developing sphere of social media, i.e., Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more, we have Courtney Culey feeding the maw of the omnivorous digital world.
I’m sure I speak for everyone at GAMS when I wish all our readers a happy and prosperous 2014.
