ENFIELD, Conn. — Farm Credit East, a farmer-owned cooperative lender, has announced the results of its recent Director Election and Board reorganization meeting. The 16-member Board represents the diversity of Northeast agriculture and forest products.
Farm Credit East, ACA stockholders recently elected the following four members to serve four-year terms on its Board of Directors:
- Kurt Alstede, of Chester, N.J., is founder, owner and general manager of Alstede Farms, LLC, a 600-acre vertically integrated fruit and vegetable operation.
- Peter Call, of Batavia, N.Y., is president of My-T Acres, Inc., an 8,500-acre vegetable and grain operation.
- Laurie Griffen, of Stillwater, N.Y., is co-owner and operator of Saratoga Sod Farm, a 700-acre turfgrass sod farm, also growing 500 acres of corn and soybeans.
- James Robbins II, of Searsmont, Maine, is president of Robbins Lumber Inc., a fully integrated sawmill which manages 27,000 acres of timberland.
At the April 30 reorganization meeting, the Board re-elected Matthew Beaton, of Wareham, Mass., as its Chair and re-elected Laurie Griffen, of Stillwater, N.Y., as Vice Chair. In addition to Chair Beaton and Vice Chair Griffen, the Executive Committee also includes Peter Call, Batavia, N.Y., and John Knopf, Canandaigua, N.Y.
“We have an excellent Board of Directors committed to the future of Farm Credit East as an essential partner for Northeast agriculture, commercial fishing and forest products. The diversity of our Board enables us to effectively serve members across our seven-state service area,” noted Chair Beaton.
Farm Credit East is a customer-owned agricultural cooperative and part of the nationwide Farm Credit System. Farm Credit East serves Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island.
The full Farm Credit East Board is comprised of 16 directors, which includes three appointed directors who bring additional skills and capabilities to the boardroom. In addition to those recently elected to the Board and those elected to leadership and Executive Committee positions, the Board includes: Michael N. Brooks, Elmer, N.J.; Tim C. Chan, Claremont, N.H.; Skip Hardie, Lansing, N.Y.; Philip “Jamie” Jones, Shelton, Conn.; LouAnne F. King, Madrid, N.Y.; Lisa P. Sellew, Lebanon, Conn.; Douglas W. Shelmidine, Adams, N.Y.; Keith M. Stolzenburg, East Amherst, N.Y.; Peter H. Triandafillou, Orono, Maine; and Terry Zittel, Eden, N.Y.
We congratulate the winning candidates and thank our customer-members for participating in the election process. We also thank departing directors Dan Corey, of Monticello, Maine, for his 20 years of service; Henry Huntington, of Loudon, N.H., for eight years of service; and Diane Souza, of Little Compton, R.I., for four years of service to the cooperative.