NEWARK, DE - Center for Growing Talent (CGT) Executive Director and PMA Senior Vice President Margi Prueitt has announced her plans to retire from the organization, effective February of 2019. The executive made her announcement at the recent Center for Growing Talent (CGT) Board of Directors meeting in Seattle, Washington.

“None of the accomplishments of the past eight years would have been possible without the insight and commitment of the best board leaders an organization could hope for,” said Prueitt, according to a press release. “We also had the wholehearted support of PMA leaders Bryan Silbermann and Cathy Burns, and the PMA staff team. The accelerator of this incredible engine has been the energy and grit of the CGT staff, who are unparalleled in their commitment to our mission and our industry.”

According to that press release, over the past eight years, Prueitt grew the CGT into the robust organization that it is—working to provide tailored solutions to attract, develop, and retain the talent that both the fresh produce and floral communities need to grow.

“As a former search executive, I cannot stress enough how important this organization and its mission have become to the future of our industry. Under Margi’s leadership, Center for Growing Talent has grown and matured into the vital organization that it is today, and set us on a path for a strong future. Thank you, Margi, for your many contributions to our industry,” said CGT Board of Directors Chair Leonard Batti, Vice President at Taylor Farms.

Among Prueitt’s notable accomplishments, the organization listed:

• Global expansion of the Career Pathways program, which attracts top university students to consider careers in fresh produce and floral. To date, 67 percent of the 1,000+ students who have participated in Career Pathways programs took a job or internship in the industry; 78 percent remain in the industry today
• The launch of the CGT Immersion Academy, which prepares university seniors to immediately begin careers in the industry. Seventy percent of the inaugural Immersion Academy class took jobs in the industry
• Creation of a career continuum suite of programs for senior executives to mid-level managers to emerging leaders to young professionals. To date, 5,430 people from nearly 600 industry companies have taken advantage of CGT’s leadership development offerings
• Global expansion of the Women’s Fresh Perspectives portfolio, which has grown to include an annual conference, a leadership breakfast, and networking receptions throughout the year
• Creation of both a mentor-mentee matching program (with more than 350 participants) and an internship toolkit designed to help industry employers to create programs to attract potential employees

“Margi has brought her vision and expertise not just to Center for Growing Talent, but also to PMA’s senior management team,” added PMA CEO Cathy Burns. “We thank her for her dedicated, tireless service to the global fresh produce and floral communities and wish her and her husband Ned well in their much-deserved retirement.”

In addition to the accomplishments listed above, the association noted that HRVest, CGT’s newest endeavor and its first offering to help the industry retain talent, was Prueitt’s creation; the groundbreaking tool designed by the HR transformation experts at PricewaterhouseCoopers will help industry companies assess and benchmark their HR capabilities to help them approach HR more strategically.

The association is currently searching for a successor to Pruiett, with Burns and Batti leading a search committee that includes CGT Board Chair-Elect Marty Craner, President of B&C Fresh Sales, and CGT Board Director Chris Cervini, President of Lakeside Produce.

Congratulations, from all of us at ANUK, to Margi on a groundbreaking career. We wish you the best in all your future endeavors.

PMA Center for Growing Talent by PMA