People in the News
Carrot Country
Summer 2006
Bob Grimm Dies
Bob Grimm, one of the co-founders of Grimmway Farms, is dead at the age of
54. He died March 17 from a heart condition for which he had been receiving
treatment.
Grimm and his brother, Rod, who died of cancer in 1998, co-founded the Bakersfield,
Calif.-based carrot grower-shipping operation in 1971.
Today, Grimmway Farms in one of the largest carrot producers in the world
and is also the largest private employer in California’s Kern County.
Over the years, Grimmway Farms has received much industry recognition, including:
Produce Marketing Excellence Award (Produce Marketing Association, 1997); Produce
Marketer of the Year Award (The Packer, 1998); Safeway Supplier of the Year
(1999); Produce Business Marketing Excellence Award (2000 and 2001); Fresh-cut
Produce Award (2001); Kern County Fair Best of Show Award (2002); Kroger Supplier
of the Year Award (2002); and Wild Oats Vendor of the Year Award (2003).
Bob Grimm was active in civic and community affairs. Past service includes:
director and past chairman of Western Growers; board member, Washington, D.C.-based
United; current chairman, Carrot Fresh Advisory Board, Dinuba; board member,
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and Concordia University,
Irvine.
Grimm was widely recognized as a man who placed family first. He is survived
by his wife, Kari, and their children: Brandon, 24; Kelli, 21; Brett, 16; Chase,
13; and David. 10.
Tim Waters Joins WSU Extension
Tim Waters recently joined WSU Extension as an area extension educator for
commercial vegetables and irrigated cropping systems in Benton and Franklin
counties. The position was formerly held by Erik Sorensen who retired in
late 2004.
Waters will be headquartered at the Franklin County Extension Office in Pasco
and will be working with growers and the ag industry across the lower Columbia
Basin.
The new area extension educator completed an associate degree at Columbia Basin
College and B.S. and M.S. degrees at Washington State University. Since completing
his M.S. degree in 2004, he has worked under Dr. Doug Walsh as a research associate
at the Irrigated Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Prosser. There,
he studied arthropod management in a variety of irrigated crops.
Waters can be contacted at the Franklin County Extension Office, 1016 N. 4th
Avenue, Pasco, WA 99301-3706 or by phone at (509) 545-3511.
© 2006 Columbia Publishing