CMI Orchards updates its leadership team

CMI Orchards has unveiled new leadership changes. CMI President Bob Mast said in a news release that the company nearly doubled its volume since 2014 and expanded its portfolio. These additions help CMI continue on its growth path, he added.

“As we anticipate further expansion, adding to our top-tier leadership team is absolutely paramount to our continued success,” Mast said in the release.

The CMI promotions include:

• Joel Hewitt has been promoted from domestic sales and organic manager to vice president of sales. Hewitt will lead and manage the sales team and its execution to drive sales growth.
• Garrett Joeckel has been promoted to vice president of operations, overseeing all operational activities supporting the sales, marketing and accounting departments. Joeckel joined at CMI in 2014, primarily focusing on production, and expanded his scope of work to include sales reporting, analytics and account management, the company said.
• Wade Baker has been named production manager. Baker joined CMI in 2022 with almost 30 years of industry experience in warehousing, including leadership roles in production planning, quality control, inventory management and logistics. 
• Loren Foss has been promoted to vice president of domestic business strategy. Foss will work closely with marketing and sales to coordinate with global brand owners, sales teams and warehouses to ensure effective management, the release said. Foss graduated from Washington State University and spent 15 years in the produce industry, with the first half of his career focused on export sales in Asia and the Middle East before moving to manage the sales side of branded varieties for CMI.
• Scott Agnew is now senior director of international sales. Agnew will focus on the company’s international business across both import and export channels, overseeing sales goals and execution, according to the release. Agnew started his career the industry working in an apple packing warehouse in the 1990s.
• The company said Steve Reinholt will focus on export business development, working closely with Agnew and the export team to continue developing business in new and existing export markets. Reinholt received his business administration degree at Central Washington University before running his family’s farming operations for three years. He joined Starr Ranch as the export sales manager in 2004.
• Steve Castleman, now promoted to senior director of strategy, has been with CMI for 25 years with his time split between domestic sales followed by serving as vice president of sales. 
• CMI promoted Robb Myers to senior director of business development. Myers will work closely with the executive team to shape the company’s growth trajectory, as well as research and develop new market opportunities and increase market presence, the company said.