Generation Farms adds Michigan, Georgia offices, hires sales veterans
Generation Farms, Vidalia, Ga., has hired three in sales with histories in Georgia and Michigan vegetable deals, where the company is opening offices.
Generation Farms hired Randy Bolhuis, Steven Johnson and James Towell as sales and procurement associates, according to a news release.
Bolhuis, who joined Fresh-Link Produce Inc. in 2019 to open a Hamilton, Mich., office, was a long-time salesman for Van Solkema Produce Inc. in Michigan, and also sold Vidalia onions from Van Solkema’s Georgia office. He’ll be in Generation Farms’ new Hamilton, Mich., office from July-October, and then in Lake Wells, Fla., November-March.
Johnson was in sales in Fresh-Link’s Lake Park, Ga., office, where Generation Farms is opening an office. Johnson was also in sales at South Georgia Produce Inc. for 16 years in Lake Park.
Towell was also in sales for Fresh-Link and was a salesman for Moore & Moore Produce of Thomasville Inc., Thomasville, Ga., before that.
With the hires, Generation Farms, which grows and markets conventional and organic produce, including Vidalia onions and watermelon, is focusing on squash, zucchini, peppers and eggplant, according to a news release. The new personnel will concentrate on expanding production and retail sales.
It’s a return to Lake Park for Generation Farms, which sold its operations there and in northern Florida to Grimmway Farms in June 2019. In December, global agricultural company Optimum Agriculture purchased Generation Farms, which includes almost 5,600 acres of land and packing/processing facilities, according to the company at the time. Optimum Agriculture has an office in Miami.
"As we continue our expansion with additional crops and growing regions, we’ve been looking for high-powered sales leaders to join our team,” Brian Stanley, director of sales for Generation Farms, said in the news release. “Welcoming three superstars at the same time speaks to the speed and direction Generation Farms is heading."
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