AGRICULTURE

California Citrus Mutual will start February with a new president and CEO. The Exeter-based nonprofit’s board of directors announced that it has voted to appoint its current executive vice president, Casey Creamer, to the top job effective Feb. 1. Creamer came to California Citrus Mutual (CCM) last February after a national search to eventually assume the role of president. He’ll succeed Joel Nelsen, who has overseen CCM for the past 37 years.

Tulare County’s assistant agricultural commissioner/sealer of weights and measures will take over his boss’ job on March 30. Members of the county’s board of supervisors announced they will appoint Tom Tucker to the position, replacing Marilyn Wright – formerly Marilyn Kinoshita, who plans toretire.

Wright took over as Tulare County’s commissioner/sealer in 2010.

HUMAN RESOURCES

The CoreHR team is thrilled to announce the addition of Sara Cribari Hill to our CoreHR family. Sara joins us as our newest HR consultant. She will be based in Merced and will support the northern Central Valley market along with our existing client base. Sara joins us from Old Navy at Gap Inc. where she spent the first ten years of her career and was most recently a Sr. HR Generalist supporting their Field division. She and her husband, Aaron, moved from San Francisco to Merced in 2016 and have become involved in their local community.

REAL ESTATE

Rob Boese, SIOR of Boese Commercial has achieved the SIOR industrial designation awarded by the Society of Industrial and Office REALTORS®. SIOR is a Washington, DC-based international professional organization of more than 3,200 commercial real estate professionals whom have earned the coveted SIOR designation. To achieve the SIOR designation, Boese, SIOR completed at least five years of creditable experience in the highly specialized field of industrial real estate; met stringent education requirements; and demonstrated professional ability, competency, ethical conduct, and personal integrity.

EDUCATION

Fresno State President Joseph I. Castro addressed supporters and community leaders about the University’s successes during the fourth annual State of the University breakfast at the Save Mart Center this week. About 740 community leaders, alumni and staff attended the State of the University, during which Castro honored alumnus and longtime University supporter John E. Horstmann with the President’s Medal of Distinction. Horstmann, who earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing at Fresno State in 1958, has a long history of commitment to the community and the University. His company, Horstmann Financial and Insurance Services, enjoys an outstanding reputation for service.

The Fresno State Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing announced California author Mark Irwin as the winner of the 2018 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry book contest, which includes a $2,000 award and publication of his 10th book, “Shimmer.” The Creative Writing Program sponsors the national prize, which honors Levine, the late poet and professor emeritus who was a founder of Fresno State’s poetry writing program, a 1995 Pulitzer Prize winner in poetry and the 2011 poet laureate of the United States. The prize is co-sponsored in partnership with Florida-based Anhinga Press, which has published poetry books since 1974.

ENTERTAINMENT

The Big Fresno Fair took home 18 awards at the Western Fairs Association’s (WFA) 96th Annual Convention & Trade Show held in Reno, Nevada from Jan. 20-23, where more than 1,200 fair CEOs, directors, staff and fair-related professionals from roughly 125 fairs throughout the Western United States attended to celebrate the greatest accomplishments of 2018. These Achievement Awards recognize the best practices by fairs in a variety of categories from digital marketing to non-profit partnerships. This year, some of The Big Fresno Fair’s first place finishes included the newly remodeled Ag Ventureland, 2018 Fair theme and Fall Wine Festival logos and the history of boxing exhibit in the Fresno County Historical Museum.

NONPROFITS

The Wonderful Company and its owners, Lynda and Stewart Resnick, have awarded $600,000 to the 2019 recipients of their flagship grants program, Wonderful Community Grants. These grants reflect the Resnicks’ commitment to giving back in the communities where their employees live and work. Since its inception, the program has provided $1.5 million to hundreds of worthy nonprofits throughout the Central Valley. The local organizations and projects receiving a 2019 grant include: City of Avenal ($50,000) — Build The Wonderful Fitness Court; Central California Food Bank ($45,000) — Free monthly produce distributions; Reedley Community Hospital ($17,122) — Provide free monthly mammograms and follow-up referrals; Kings Community Action Organization ($5,000) — Bring free meals, clothing and personal hygiene products on a referral basis to families in need; Central California Food Bank (Food, Inc.) ($45,899) — Provide free monthly produce distributions at three unique sites; Boys and Girls Club of Fresno County ($24,830) — Healthy snack programming and enrichment field trips for low-income youth; Reedley Community Hospital ($17,122) — Provide free monthly mammograms and follow-up referrals.

REAL ESTATE

Cook Land Company would like to announce the hire of Lacey DeHart as its new accounting manager. This growth position will complement existing operations at their Fresno headquarters. Lacey brings with her 10 years of accounting experience and expertise from both the private and government sectors. She received her bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Utah and also holds a master’s degree in accounting.