LOWELL, Ore., U.S. — Fall Creek Farm & Nursery, Inc., has announced the promotion of three employees to help lead the nursery company’s operations and plant production in the United States and Canada.

Brett Webber has been promoted to operations manager for the U.S. business and reports to Dave Daniel, general manager for Fall Creek U.S./Canada. Webber farmed for several years before joining Fall Creek as farm manager of its Pleasant Hill, Oregon, facility in December 2019. He played a key role in the company’s U.S. certification program. He earned a bachelor’s degree in sustainable agriculture and food systems from University of California, Davis.

Brent Barker, a 16-year Fall Creek employee, has been promoted from farm manager to production manager for the region, reporting to Webber. Barker joined the company as production supervisor in 2007, was later promoted to farm manager of Fall Creek’s Windy Flat farm and has also managed its Pleasant Hill and Home Place farms, all located in Oregon. He has been instrumental in all aspects of production, including crop health and the company’s Good Roots Initiative. He has been a member of Fall Creek’s safety committee since he first joined the company, and now serves as its chair. Barker earned a degree in business administration from the University of Oregon.

Eligio “Tito” Montes Cruz has been promoted to assistant production manager, reporting to Barker. Montes Cruz began his career at Fall Creek in 2012 as a truck driver in the production department at the company’s headquarters in Oregon. Within one year, he became a production and shipping team leader, and from 2014 to 2019, was a team leader at the Pleasant Hill farm, supporting production and operations. Montes Cruz also has played a key role in important Fall Creek projects in other regions. In 2015, he traveled to the Peru subsidiary to assist the team there in launching shipping and production practices; he did the same in 2016 in Spain and again in 2019 in The Netherlands. In mid-2019, he was promoted to farm manager at the Windy Flat nursery, where he helped to complete the process for organic certification and train team leaders in new software platforms. In his new role, he is responsible for field data collection and reporting that supports production and operations to improve quality control, production efficiency, labor usage and more.

It’s been a privilege to work with these three talented, dedicated individuals over the years,” says Daniel. “They have the experience, skills, and knowledge to lead our U.S. operations and production of high-quality blueberry nursery stock while ensuring our customers and employees are well supported. I look forward to many more years of innovation in our region with this team.”

Fall Creek Farm & Nursery, Inc., is the leading provider of genetic solutions to the blueberry industry with research and development centers across all chills levels and nursery operations in the U.S., Chile, Mexico, Peru, Spain, The Netherlands, China, and South Africa. Fall Creek breeds and delivers blueberry varieties, nursery stock, and grower support to commercial fruit growers throughout the world. For more information, visit www.fallcreeknursery.com.