PRESS RELEASE

Sacramento, CA — The California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (LGMA) is pleased to announce that Greg Komar has been hired as the organization’s new Technical Director. Mike Villaneva, the LGMA’s current Technical Director, is retiring in May of 2019. Komar will report directly to LGMA CEO, Scott Horsfall.

With over 20 years of experience in technical aspects of production agriculture, Greg has served in a wide variety of roles.   Early in his career Greg worked in areas including laboratory analysis, applied research and seed breeding. Greg has also managed compliance programs for leading U.S produce companies including Mann Packing, Green Giant Fresh and Earthbound Farms, and helped manage audit programs for certification bodies NSF Agriculture and SCS Global Services.  
“Mike Villaneva has served as our Technical Director for the past 10 years and leaves some very big shoes to be filled,” said Horsfall.  “The challenge was not only finding a qualified and knowledgeable candidate, but a candidate who can relate to all of LGMA’s different stakeholder groups.  Greg is an excellent fit for the organization’s needs and we are confident he will excel in his new role with the LGMA.”

As the Technical Director, Greg will work closely with the food safety community and industry stakeholders to assure the LGMA-accepted on-farm food safety practices are fully understood and implemented. Additionally, Greg will help to develop and deliver training programs to the industry.  His ultimate goal in this position is to work with stakeholders to continually strive for ways to assure that leafy greens are safe and healthy for consumers.

“Working at the LGMA provides a path to serving an industry that has been so good to me,” said Komar about his new role.  “I want to use my knowledge and experience to help assure that our leafy greens products are safe. I look forward to continuing to provide the industry with exceptional service and to advancing and improving our programs as food safety and compliance needs in the agriculture industry change.”   

“One of the biggest benefits the LGMA offers for its members - and something that makes it different from other audit programs - is assistance in establishing a culture of food safety on the farm,” said LGMA Chairman Steve Church.  “The LGMA Technical Director is an essential part of that process. We look forward to Greg’s contributions as an important new player on the LGMA team.”