A swift but extensive selection process has secured the Western Milk Pool a chief executive officer to oversee the group’s transformation into the coordinating body for the five Western dairy associations.
Nolan Berg of Edmonton was chosen following interviews in mid April that reviewed a shortlist of candidates from both within and outside WMP’s member organizations, which include both the BC Dairy Association and BC Milk Marketing Board.
“Nolan Berg is a seasoned agribusiness leader with a track record of building teams, transforming organizations to fully realize their potential and delivering results,” WMP said in a statement announcing Berg’s selection. “He brings over 30 years of experience working for and consulting to a broad range of organizations across Canada, the US, and overseas.”
That experience includes early roles as a product manager with Novartis and Dupont as well as 22 years in executive roles, primarily in the marketing field, for companies ranging from energy to agribusiness.
“Nolan brings important leadership to the operational management of WMP, particularly as we navigate through the important next steps of our future-state planning which will demand transparency, clear communication and trust,” says WMP chair Henry Holtmann, noting Berg’s “impressive track record of building organizations in a fast-changing environment using an extremely collaborative approach.”
Berg is committed to a “relentless focus on collaboration” in his new role “to achieve the goal of providing a more organized, unified voice for western dairy farmers.”
Speaking to Lower Mainland dairy farmers in late March, BC Dairy Association chair Holger Schwichtenberg said the new CEO’s responsibilities would include updating the board on operations, fostering a collaborative culture and serve as a spokesperson on operational issues.
Schwichtenberg, alongside BC Milk chair Janice Comeau and Jeremy Wiebe are BC’s representatives to the new WMP board to which Berg reports.
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