The Long Island Farm Bureau won’t be getting a new executive director to replace the man who’s retiring this month after holding that position for the past 26 years.
Joseph Gergela’s current roles will be filled by two people, L.I. Farm Bureau president Karen Rivara told RiverheadLOCAL Monday.
“We’re reconfiguring the office to meet the needs of the 21st century,” Rivara said.
The organization’s business manager, Rob Carpenter, a 27-year farm bureau employee, is taking on the role of administrative director, Rivara said. Carpenter will manage the organization’s day-to-day operations, she said.
Meanwhile, the farm bureau is looking to fill the newly created position of public policy director, she said. The group has been gathering resumes for the public policy director position; the submission deadline is Dec. 5, Rivara said.
According to the farm bureau’s website, the policy director will lead the group’s advocacy program and report to the farm bureau’s president and administrative director. The organization aims to have the new position filled by Jan. 12, it said in its job posting.
The personnel committee will review the resumes, conduct interviews and make a recommendation to the board of directors, which will choose the new director and announce its selection. Rivara didn’t give a date by which the decision will be made.
Gergela, who was hired as executive director in 1988, is leaving big shoes to fill, the board president acknowledged.
“As tough as it is, we’ll manage the change well,” Rivara predicted. “We’re a strong organization and we’ll maintain that.”
Rivara, who owns and operated Aeros Cultured Oyster Company in Southold, became the L.I. Farm Bureau’s first woman president in October 2013.
