The Center for Growing Talent's (CGT) Career Pathways program will reach its 1,000th student participant milestone at the Canadian Produce Marketing Association's (CPMA) Annual Convention and Trade Show that started today and will run until April 26.

Since the program began in 2004, the brainchild of industry leader Jay Pack working with then-PMA CEO Bryan Silbermann, Career Pathways has been a resoundingly successful recruiting tool to attract top university students to industry careers.

Hosting 10 programs at industry events in the U.S. and around the world this year, CGT is providing scholarships to bring students and their professors to these events, where they are oriented to the industry and the opportunities in it.

The student then takes in the event with guidance from a Career Ambassador , a volunteer working in the industry.

"To bring those statistics to life, this program has had a very real positive impact on our industry. What started as Jay Pack's visionary idea for attracting students to careers in our industry has grown to a global scale, with remarkable metrics of success", said Leonard Batti, chair of CGT's board of directors and vice president of Taylor Farms.

16 students deemed the best and the brightest from four universities will travel to CPMA's Convention and Trade Show in Vancouver.

"We welcome warmly these Career Pathways students to Vancouver and congratulate CGT for reaching its 1,000th student milestone here with us. CPMA shares that passion for finding and mentoring our industry's future talent", said CPMA president Ron Lemaire.

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