Florida Citrus Commission Adds 2 Top Executives

Published: Thursday, July 18, 2013 at 3:22 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, July 18, 2013 at 3:22 a.m.

BARTOW | Two top Florida Department of Citrus executives will start in August after the Florida Citrus Commission approved their salaries on Wednesday.

"We'll have some new eager guys ready to work; I'm excited," said Lake Wales-based grower Marty McKenna, chairman of the commission, the department's governing body, during its 30-minute meeting by telephone.

Shannon Shepp, 44, one of three deputy commissioners at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, will start Aug. 2 as the deputy executive director of operations at the Citrus Department. She will earn a starting annual salary of $129,000.

Shepp worked in the state Agriculture Department's Winter Haven office for 12 years, rising to director of the Fruit and Vegetables Division there before becoming a deputy commissioner. She previously worked as an aide to then-state Rep. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, for three years and as a public relations representative for three years at Lakeland-based Florida Citrus Mutual.

"Her combined experience makes her a natural to help us face the challenges in the Florida citrus industry," Executive Director Doug Ackerman said.

Shepp succeeds Bob Norberg, who resigned in March.

New INTERNATIONAL marketing director

The commission approved a $100,000 annual salary for Michael Schadler of Seattle, who will start Aug. 12 as director of international marketing.

Schadler has worked since 2006 as an international marketing account manager for Bryant Christie Inc., a Seattle-based international marketing consultant.

Previously he lived and worked in Chile for five years.

The Citrus Department has contracted with Bryant Christie for many years, Ackerman noted, and Schadler has helped develop its export marketing strategy required to get U.S. Department of Agriculture funding. The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service program annually gives about $4 million, about half the department's international marketing budget, for advertising programs in Canada, Europe and Asia.

Schadler succeeds Mike Yetter, who retired earlier this month after 14 years with the department.

Florida law requires the Citrus Commission publicly approve salaries of $100,000 or more.

Polk leads the state's citrus-producing counties with 82,572 grove acres and 9.9 million trees in 2012, according to USDA data. It historically leads the state in citrus production, as it did in the 2011-12 season with 31.2 million boxes. It ranked No. 1 in orange, tangerine and tangelo production and third in grapefruit.

[ Kevin Bouffard can be reached at kevin.bouffard@theledger.com or at 863-401-6980. Read more on Florida citrus on his Facebook page, Florida Citrus Witness, http://bit.ly/baxWuU. ]

Source: http://www.theledger.com/article/20130718/news/130719273

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