Legendary Fruit Growing Family Receives High Honors

Seattle Business magazine has honored the Mathison family of Stemilt Growers in Wenatchee, WA, with the Family Legacy Award. The award was presented at the 2011 Washington Family Business Awards ceremony held on Thursday, Nov. 3, in Seattle, WA. Stemilt is the second company to receive this award.

According to John Levesque, managing editor of Seattle Business magazine, Stemilt was selected by a group of independent judges to receive this year’s Legacy Award because the company “exhibits characteristics of a progressive, forward-looking family business over multiple generations.”

Two generations of Mathisons were on hand to accept the award on the company’s behalf, including Stemilt president West Mathison, his brother and sales leader, Tate Mathison, and their father and fourth generation farmer, Kyle Mathison.

“It’s an honor to receive the Legacy Award,” said West Mathison. “This is a tribute to the hard work and perseverance of three generations before us and especially that of my late grandfather and Stemilt founder, Tom Mathison. We are very blessed to be able to follow in their footsteps and will continue to do all that we can to build off of their great legacy.”

The Mathison family has a history of farming in eastern Washington that dates back to 1893 when the first generation homesteaded 160 acres atop Stemilt Hill, a high-elevation region overlooking Wenatchee, WA. By 1914, Thomas Cyle Mathison (1st generation) began planting apple, pear, and cherry orchards on Stemilt Hill, recognizing that the region’s moderate climate and volcanic soils offered ideal growing conditions for tree fruit. In 1947, Tom Mathison took a lead in the family’s farming business, which at that time, was barely making enough to cover costs. In an effort to turn his business around, Tom sought new cherry harvest methods and began packing his own fruit, as well as fruit for other local growers. He founded Stemilt Growers in 1964 with the goal of delivering high-quality fruit to consumers worldwide. Over the next three decades, Stemilt gradually expanded its operations and evolved into a leader in the tree fruit industry. In 2005, Tom passed the presidency to his grandson, West Mathison. Today, the family-owned and operated company is the leading supplier of sweet cherries and the largest organic tree fruit supplier in the nation.

As the recipient of this year’s Family Legacy Award, the Mathisons will be featured in the December 2011 issue of Seattle Business magazine, which will be published in late November.

 

Source: Stemilt Growers