<p>Lorri Koster, Chairman and CEO of Mann Packing, has been named the 2014 Ag Leader of the Year. The prestigious <b>award honors an individual whose work has broken new ground and/or who has added significantly to the industry while making a difference in the community</b> in which they live.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Part of the third generation in her family to work in produce, Lorri was raised in the agricultural industry. She started her full time career at Mann in 1990. Today Mann Packing Company is certified as a women’s business enterprise through the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the nation’s largest third party certifier of businesses owned and operated by women in the United States, according to a press release. Mann is celebrating its <b>75th anniversary</b> this year. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Lorri participates on numerous committees for PMA, the United Fresh Produce Association, Western Growers and the Grower Shipper Association of Central California. She was a member of both the board and executive committee of the Produce for Better Health Foundation. She is also a past board member of PMA’s Foundation for Industry Talent and remains active in its fundraising efforts via the Joe Nucci Memorial Golf Tournament.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Lorri was president of the board of directors of the International Fresh Cut Produce Association in 2000, being the <B>first woman</b> to chair an American produce trade association. She is a past chairman of the Grower Shipper Association of Central California where she became the second woman to hold the position and represented the first father-daughter and third generation chairmanship as her father was at the helm of the association in 1983 and her great uncle, Art Sbrana, in 1936. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>In 2005 Lorri was named one of the industry’s top 40 produce professionals under the age of 40 by Produce Business magazine. In 2009 she was asked to keynote and was given an award of excellence at the United Fresh Produce Association’s Women in Produce event. In 2011 she was named one of the industry’s “Top 25” by trade publication The Packer magazine. Progressive Grocer magazine named her one of the Top 100 Women in Grocery in 2011 and in 2013 she was named Produce Marketer of the Year by The Packer magazine. Currently Lorri also serves as a board alternate for the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement and on the board and nutrition council of the United Fresh Produce Association. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>In 2006 she was named an Outstanding Young Californian by the California Junior Chamber of Commerce and Ag Woman of the Year by Salinas-based non-profit Ag Against Hunger. She is a trustee at the Panetta Institute for Public Policy and serves on the board of Monterey County’s Hospice Foundation. She is also a member of the Business Advisory Council for Rancho Cielo Youth Campus which helps troubled teens.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Lorri was honored Thursday, May 8th at the Tenth Annual Valley of the World Awards presented by The National Steinbeck Center. Lorri holds a bachelor of arts degree from California State University, Chico. A sports enthusiast and “Forty Niner Faithful,” she lives in Salinas with her husband and their two boys. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>From your friends at AndNowUKnow, congratulations on all your achievements and all those yet to come! </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.veggiesmadeeasy.com" target="_new"> Mann Packing</a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
