The BC Fruit Growers Association (BCFGA) has hired Melissa Tesche as the new general manager. From 2015 until present, she was the general manager of the Okanagan-Kootenay Sterile Insect Release Board (SIR).

Tesche has experience with the Okanagan Water Basin Board and has an M.Sc., Conservation Biology from the University of British Columbia, and B. Ed., Secondary Sciences and B.Sc., Biological Sciences, from the University of Alberta, 2004.

She grew up in northern Alberta, with grandparents who grew grain and canola, and aunts and uncles with cattle. After university, Tesche spent a year visiting family friends and farms in Australia, working and travelling around the country, where she picked apples, worked on an apple line, picked cantaloupe and watermelon, worked with sheep, and worked on a tomato line.

Tesche is taking over from retiring general manager Glen Lucas on March 4, 2024, following his 25-year tenure as general manager.

Tesche noted, “While I will miss my position and colleagues at SIR, I am energized for the tasks andchallenges ahead. I’m not a grower myself, but I’ve watched my family experience the joy and the heartbreak that comes with producing food. I understand the critical role that farmers play. I am excited to work for the BCFGA to make sure that the government and the public understand the importance of the Southern Interior Tree Fruit Sector as well. The association represents 300 tree fruit growers.

Source: BC Fruit Growers’ Association January 12, 2024 news release