VIDALIA, GA – The Vidalia Onion Committee (VOC) announced today that Executive Director Susan Waters is retiring from the organization, with Bob Stafford, current Director of the Vidalia Onion Business Council, replacing her on an interim basis.

Waters served as Executive Director of the VOC since 2013. According to a VOC press release, Waters joined the organization that oversees marketing, promotion, and research for Vidalia onions seven years ago as the Executive Assistant to the former Executive Director before stepping into the role herself.

“We are very grateful and appreciative for Susan’s leadership over the past four years,” said VOC Chairman Troy Bland. “We are fortunate that Bob Stafford will be able to step in while we look for a new leader to handle the day-to-day operations of the committee.”

Stafford, Waters’ interim successor, is a veteran agriculture industry executive having spent 34 years with various state departments of agriculture. He is a member of Vidalia Onion Hall of Fame and the Georgia Agriculture Vidalia Onion Advisory panel.

The VOC also noted that it launched its 2017 season April 12, 2017, and is celebrating the silver anniversary of the State of Georgia's ownership of the Vidalia onion trademark. The committee launched a new marketing campaign entitled “Only Vidalia” to highlight the region’s signature onion and the way it has been hand crafted by grower artisans for more than 80 years in Georgia.

We at AndNowUKnow wish both Waters and Stafford the best in all their future endeavors.

Vidalia Onion Committee