CHELAN, Wash. — Mark Stennes, a fourth-generation Methow Valley grower, has been appointed interim chief executive officer of Chelan Fruit Cooperative, effective Jan. 1.

Stennes, 37, succeeds Reggie Collins, who has been CEO since 2004. Collins will take an advisory role with the co-op and Chelan Fresh Marketing on business and strategic opportunities.

Stennes joined Chelan Fruit as assistant general manager on April 2017 and became a member of the Washington Apple Commission in May of 2017. His identical twin brother, Kevin, joined Chelan Fresh Marketing in 2013 and is organic sales manager.

Their father, Keith Stennes, operates the 400-acre family orchard in Methow that was started by his grandfather, Britanus Stennes, in 1903. Keith and his wife, Deb, and their sons, their wives and children all live on the family orchard.

Mark Stennes holds an undergraduate degree in horticulture from Wenatchee Valley College, a bachelor’s in business administration from Central Washington University and a master’s in business administration from Boise State University.

He managed the family orchard before working for Chelan Fruit. Stennes Orchards has been a member of the co-op since the 1920s, when Britanus founded Methow Pateros Growers.

Chelan Fruit is a 270-member grower-owned cooperative in Chelan. Each year, it packs about 7 million boxes of apples and pears and 1.5 million boxes of cherries. The fruit is sold by Chelan Fresh. Chelan Fruit employs about 800 people year-round and 1,100 to 1,200 during cherry harvest.

Chelan Fruit was formed by the merger of Trout-Blue Chelan and the Brewster cooperative MAGI in 2004. The merger was one of the first projects Reggie Collins led as CEO. Collins also was instrumental in the creation of Chelan Fresh Marketing as the sales desk for Chelan Fruit and Gebbers Farms.

More recently, Collins oversaw the $85 million rebuild of Chelan Fruit’s main apple packing plant, which was destroyed by wildfire in 2015.

“The board appreciates the tremendous progress the co-op has made under Reggie’s leadership and we look forward to building on this progress with Mark as our interim CEO,” said Marrian Peebles, Chelan Fruit board chairman.

The board has a strong focus on succession planning and Stennes’ selection enables a “seamless transition” in leadership, Peebles said.

Stennes has “demonstrated exceptional leadership” and has the “vision and values” to lead Chelan Fruit into the future, said Dave Robison, Chelan Fruit board vice chairman.

Stennes said he looks forward to driving performance for growers, employees and customers. He said he wants Chelan Fruit to be “a haven and the best option for independent growers.”

“The Washington tree fruit industry is changing rapidly but there is a great future ahead for growers of all sizes who change with a changing world,” Stennes said.