YAKIMA -- The executive director for the state's $1.7 billion tree-fruit industry will end his tenure this month so he can start a new job with Broetje Orchards in Prescott, Wash.
Jim Hazen will end his decade-long stint as executive director of the Washington State Horticulture Association, based in Wenatchee. As business manager at Broetje Orchards, he'll be overseeing the orchards' financial, human resource and legal issues.
His last day with the horticulture group is April 30.
Hazen, 44, said he felt it was time for someone new to take over. And with the opportunity to remain in the industry, he decided to go for it.
"I think this is a great opportunity for me and the organization to make a transition," he said.
Members of the association's board praised Hazen for his ability to build alliance with other agricultural and tree fruit groups and to lobby for the industry in Olympia.
He played a key role in defining strategy to protect the industry on such important issues as the heat-stress rule, designed to protect workers in the hot summer fields, and the state's transition to more environmentally friendly pesticides.
Hazen was instrumental in securing more than a half-million dollars in state funding to help growers deal with the pesticide switch, said Mark Holtzinger, chairman of the association's board and a veteran of the Yakima Valley apple industry.
Besides coordinating the efforts of the trade group's lobbyist in Olympia, he also helped maintain membership as the number of growers shrank in the state from about 7,500 to less than half that number, Holtzinger said.
That reduction was primarily due to larger growers absorbing smaller ones, as well as the removal of apple orchards in favor of cherries or grapes.
It came as growers and packers dealt with a glut of more than 100 million boxes of apples on the market, particularly around 2000. While retail growth has not surged, the market has since stabilized with help from overseas sales and more focus on specialty types of apples.
"In a time when you have contraction in the number of growers and less dues, he was able to get a lot of done and leverage the assets we had at our disposal," Holtzinger said.
Hazen was also responsible for organizing the annual horticulture conference, which rotates between Wenatchee and Yakima. He successfully sought corporate sponsors to help with the cost of the event, Holtzinger said.
Prior to working at the association, Hazen served as a a senior staff writer and policy adviser for the Washington State Senate for eight years.
Holtzinger said the board has already begun its search for Hazen's replacement and hopes to make its selection by May.
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