Jennifer Gogan of Houlton, Maine, and Jared Smith of Alamosa, Colorado, were elected to the Potatoes USA Executive Committee as Research Committee Co-Chairs at the organization’s Annual Meeting. This is Gogan’s second year on the board and her first year on the Executive Committee. Smith is serving his fourth year on the board and his second year on the leadership team after serving two years as a member of the Domestic Marketing and Research Committees.
Gogan, a fourth-generation farmer, is the assistant manager and part-owner of Miller Farms LLC, a seed potato farm in Littleton, Maine. The farm primarily grows for Frito-Lay and grows Lamoka, Snowden, Atlantic, dark red Norland, Caribou Russet, and Russet Burbank seed potatoes. She is also the assistant manager at Miller Farms LLC’s sister company, Aroostook Produce Distributors Inc., which works with local farmers to grow and deliver chip stock to chip plants. Gogan is looking forward to helping lead a program that studies varieties, disease management, and uses science to show potatoes are a healthy vegetable. In addition to holding a position on the Potatoes USA board, Gogan currently serves on the Maine Potato Board’s Research Committee and is a graduate of the Potato Industry Leadership Institute (PILI), class of 2013.