Ivan Noonan was recently presented with a Certificate of Appreciation as a founding co-chair of the United Potato Growers of Canada, which was formed in 2006. He was presented with the certificate of appreciation by UPGC chairman, Ray Keenan, in Charlottetown, P.E.I., on August 2, 2019.
Before his retirement, Noonan was the general manager of the P.E.I. Potato Board for 14 years from 1994-2008 and then general manager of Food Trust P.E.I., before he fully retired this year from Mid-Isle Farms.
Noonan was a driving force behind many initiatives that have been beneficial for the continued success of the potato industry. One of these was the formation of the United Potato Growers of Canada. After Noonan saw the successful formation of a new producer organization in the United States, called the United Potato Growers of America, he realized a similar organization could be very beneficial to growers in Canada, who were at the time experiencing lower levels of profitability.
In Western Canada, Noonan and Garry Sloik became driving forces behind the creation of UPGC, an organization founded on the principles of matching supply with demand. Canadian potato growers are very appreciative of his efforts and we wish him well in his retirement.
