The BC Fruit Growers’ Association (BCFGA) has hired Melissa Tesche as the new general manager. She takes over from retiring general manager Glen Lucas on March 4, 2024, following Lucas’ 25-year tenure.
Tesche joins the association from her current position as general manager of the Okanagan-Kootenay Sterile Insect Release (SIR) Program, which she has held since 2015.
“We are very happy to welcome Melissa to the BCFGA team,” says president Peter Simonsen. “It is a great advantage that past general manager Glen Lucas has developed a transition plan, which started last March, and that Glen has agreed to support Melissa in her new role.”
“While I will miss my position and colleagues at SIR, I am energized for the tasks and challenges ahead,” says Tesche. “I’m not a grower myself, but I’ve watched my family experience the joy and the heartbreak that comes with producing food. I understand the critical role that farmers play.
“I am excited to work for the BCFGA to make sure that the government and the public understand the importance of the Southern Interior tree fruit sector as well.”
Tesche brings a wealth of knowledge from her involvement with SIR and the Okanagan Basin Water Board. She holds a M.Sc. in conservation biology from UBC. Her earlier studies include a B.Ed. and B.Sc. from the University of Alberta.
She grew up in northern Alberta with grandparents who grew grain and canola, and aunts and uncles with cattle. After university, Tesche spent a year visiting family friends’ farms in Australia, working and travelling around the country, where she picked apples, worked on an apple line, picked cantaloupe and watermelon, and worked with sheep and a tomato line.
The BCFGA represents 300 tree fruit growers. The tree fruit sector sustains an estimated 2,490 jobs. ν
