Thomas Beaver has left his position as director of marketing at the New Jersey Department of Agriculture to join Sunny Valley International Inc., where his title will be director of sales and marketing. His last day at the Trenton-based NJDA was Friday, Nov. 1, and he started with Glassboro, NJ-based Sunny Valley on Monday, Nov. 4.
Asked what his position at Sunny Valley will entail, Beaver told The Produce News Wednesday, Oct. 30, in an exclusive interview, "It's a very diverse role. It involves managing and working with the sales team at Sunny Valley internally, but also involves managing grower and customer relationships, and managing day-to-day operations alongside Francisco [Allende]," the firm's general manager. "So that's really the structure of it. It's a lot of different jobs wrapped into one."
Beaver joined the NJDA's Division of Marketing & Development back in mid-November 2016, replacing Al Murray, who retired as the department's longtime director of marketing and assistant secretary of agriculture on Nov. 30 of that year. Before that Beaver had spent about eight years with the New Jersey Farm Bureau.
Beaver described his tenure with the New Jersey Department of Agriculture as "fantastic," adding with enthusiasm, "I have nothing but wonderful things to say about the department and certainly about the secretary [Douglas H. Fisher] and everybody I worked with there — particularly my staff within the Division of Marketing. They are tremendous people."
He continued, "It was an incredibly rewarding job. I feel like we accomplished a lot in the three years that I was there." He particularly pointed to "further enhancing the visibility of the Jersey Fresh program," adding, "There was a lot to be proud of, and I'll certainly miss it significantly."
Mary Tovar, chief of staff for Secretary Fisher, said Friday afternoon, Nov. 1, that the New Jersey Department of Agriculture has already started the interview process to find a replacement for Beaver.
Asked why he decided to make the change at this point in time, Beaver replied, "I think this was the right opportunity at the right time. The company I admire tremendously, and their people I admire tremendously."
He continued, "I look at the fact that a big piece of Sunny Valley's portfolio is the New Jersey deal, especially peaches, blueberries and fresh-market cranberries. So I'll still be connected to New Jersey agriculture significantly, which is important to me. But like I said, the company puts its growers first, and has wonderful, well-established relationships with all their clients as well. So it was the right opportunity for me, and it was the right time to take this opportunity."
He added, "But I don't think I would have done it if it was a different company. This was a fit that came together perfectly. It really is a match made in heaven."
Beaver, who will turn 36 on Dec. 6 of this year, lives in Moorestown, NJ, a suburb of Philadelphia. He and his wife, Lauren, have been married for five years, and they have two children.
