Stemilt Growers is taking Rainier cherries to an even higher level with a new, state-of-the-art optical sizer and in-line cluster cutter. The new equipment allows Stemilt to size large-sized Rainiers with precision in order to deliver a premium pack to the marketplace.

Driven by a vision for a local farm that would offer New York chefs and retailers the freshest and highest-quality culinary ingredients year-round at competitive prices, Viraj Puri and Eric Haley developed their first greenhouse facility in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY, in 2008. In 2009, the partners joined forces with Jenn Nelkin, a nationally renowned greenhouse expert, as a partner to head Gotham Greens’ greenhouse operations. The first harvest at the greenhouse was in June of this year.

LOS ANGELES — “I’ve got my daughter here. She just graduated college and is going to grad school, “ said Ted Kaplan, president of Professional Produce, here. Sydney Kaplan graduated from Chapman University in Orange, CA, and is working at Professional for the summer. “She is learning the business before she goes to grad school,” doing “a little bit of everything.”

LOS ANGELES — Moreno Bros. 2, here, is a new company that opened its doors just two years ago. But founder and President Anthony (Tony) Moreno regards the new venture as a continuation of a multi-generational family tradition that goes back a hundred years.

LOS ANGELES — “We see the recession, but we have done very well for the last two years, and this year looks very exciting,” said Harbhajan Singh, president of Samra Produce & Farms Inc., here.

“Last year, our growth was 25 percent overall,” he said. He expects “probably another 25 percent growth this year.”

Many produce companies in Los Angeles are struggling, but whenever there is “a new situation” in business, be it a recession or a boom, “you have to adjust yourself,” he said. “Those people who adjust in a timely manner don’t get hurt.”

The co-owner of Grand Rapids, MI-based Heeren Bros. was found dead July 7 at his home in Grand Rapids along with his wife, daughter and granddaughter after a shooting rampage that claimed seven people.

Thomas Heeren, 51, who operated Heeren Bros. along with his brothers and cousins, was shot to death along with his wife, Rebecca, daughter, Jennifer, and granddaughter, Kamrie. The shooter, Rodrick Shonte Dantzler, the estranged husband of Jennifer Heeren and father of Kamrie Heeren-Dantzler, killed himself following a standoff with authorities.