A combination of organizational management and practical farming experience has primed the new executive director of the BC Fruit Growers Association to lead the industry forward.
Summerland grower Adrian Arts was named BCFGA’s executive director on April 24 following the departure of former general manager Melissa Tesche, who left to head the Okanagan Basin Water Board.
“I have felt a sense of hope watching Melissa and the board face what have been some of the biggest challenges ever to the industry and make a huge momentum,” says Arts. “I want to be able to be there to help continue it.”
Arts arrived in Summerland 10 years ago after completing a Master’s of Science degree at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, where he volunteered with food security organizations and was director of the local food bank.
He landed a job with the Carcajou Fruit Company and the Carlson family trained him up to eventually be orchard manager. At the same time, they connected him with a local apple grower who was looking to lease land and Arts began managing his own orchard, eventually expanding to 20 acres.
He joined BCFGA and was active in committee work and as well as serving on the board of ARDCorp. He received his professional agrologist (P.Ag.) designation in 2018.
Arts hopes his experience as a fruit grower, a government manager and a coordinator in the non-profit sector, will help him to support the tree fruit industry to continue to move forward.
Arts accepted a job with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food as the industry specialist for tree fruit and grapes in 2020 and was promoted to the role of manager for the Southern Interior in January 2022.
“The last five years I have been with the ministry have been particularly challenging,” Arts says. “Through the people I have worked with and the challenges we tackled, I gained a lot of really great skills. I just feel like I need a change of pace, to return to where I feel more grounded, working with growers like before I came into government.”
BCFGA is in a good position right now, Arts says, with the younger generation starting to play a more active role in advocacy.
“There is a lot of collective experience in the board and I think we are in a transition period,” he says. “The average age on the board right now is close to 40.”
BCFGA leadership has sparked a new sense of hope, Arts says.
“I see so much opportunity now to move forward with the ‘Stronger Together’ messaging that has been developed,” he says. “I just have to keep up that momentum and really work alongside growers.”
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