Jim Allen, vice president of marketing for New York Apple Sales, will be retiring June 26. Allen has been with NYAS since February of 2017, though he has been in the produce industry for 48 years, starting in 1972 in the fruit processing business.

In 1980, Allen gained his marketing experience with Keystone Fruit Marketing in Greencastle, PA. In 1996 He joined the New York Apple Association as retail promotions director, and in 2000 he became president and CEO of the association until his retirement in 2017.

Allen joined New York Apple Sales Inc. in April of 2017. He has been highly active over the years in the U.S. Apple Export Council, USApple, United Fresh and numerous New York state ag groups. He was named Apple Person of the Year in 2002, earned the first ever Apple Champion Award from USApple in 2016 and the New York State Agricultural Society Distinguished Service Citation in 2019.

“The apple does not fall far from the Tree” as Tenley Allen Fitzgerald will be taking over the NYAS marketing position her father is vacating.

“For years I have seen the pride and the joy in the eyes of so many farmers when their children decide to return to the farm and carry on the legacy that their families have built," said Allen. "Although I do not own a farm, I have the same amount of pride seeing Tenley follow in the food, and now apple, industry, and I see the enormous amount of passion she has for her career path. If my passion and love for this industry have been an inspiration to Tenley, then that delights me to no end.”